Forever Young
by GiveMeLovee
Summary: When Niall meets a pretty brunette by the name of Melissa Neil while in Canada things click for him, but are the feelings mutual? Includes Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik & Liam Payne. Read to find out more!
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer; if you recognize something, then it's not mine.**_

CHAPTER1

~0o0o0o0~

Lukas' iPhone rang loudly and Melanie leaped up to answer it.

"Hey, it's Melanie" She said loudly, glancing at me with an excited grin while twirling a strand of her brown hair around her index finger.

I listened as the short exchange went on. She hung up the phone and announced with enthusiasm that they would be arriving in less than 10 minutes.

"Isn't this exciting?" She said, hopping over the back of the sofa and landing next to me.

"Well yes, but stop acting like such a fan girl," I said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said seriously. But her seriousness didn't last, for not even a moment later she crackled up and leaped off the couch. Alcohol can have that effect on her. I glanced at Laura and rolled my eyes.

The music in the background was turned up and the much overkilled song 'Party Rock Anthem' boomed loudly. We were currently at our best friend Lukas' house waiting for his cousin and his friends to show up. It was the first time that the other 4 were visiting Canada, and it just so happened to be on the night that Lukas was having a small house party.

I stood up, stretched, and arranged my outfit before sauntering over to the kitchen to get myself yet another drink. There weren't as many people at the party as there was last time, but 40 people still made the large house crowded. Plus, being winter, we were confined to the indoors. The smell of alcohol was very evident in the air.

In the kitchen, people were standing around the large table, all chairs pushed to the walls, as a game of beer pong went on. Graham, one of my old classmates from high school lost his balance and grabbed onto my shoulder for support.

"Take it easy there," I laughed as I helped straighten him. He grinned sheepishly before turning back to the game.

Lukas tended to have the best of parties- the kind where you woke up in places you never thought you would, and where you discovered pictures of yourself doing something horrifying and/or embarrassing. His older brother Caleb, a university student during the week and a bartender on weekends, normally hung out in the kitchen, preparing drinks, but mostly hung around to make sure the party never got out of control. Money had never been issue for the family, and so alcohol and liquor was always available for occasions like this. And the fact they lived on the outskirts of a small town left no boundaries; summer parties often got wilder than usual.

"What will it be? The usual rum and coke?" Mikhail asked, picking up a bottle of spiced rum.

"Actually, just fill the glass. Straight will be fine," I said, flushing slightly.

He threw his head back and laughed loudly, but otherwise he handed me a cup of rum. I swirled its contents around and brought it up to my mouth, taking a mouthful and swallowing the smooth liquor. I thanked him and grabbed a red plastic cup of a blue mix for Melanie before making my way out of the kitchen.

"Melissa, where are you going?" Adam, a fellow schoolmate called.

"Sorry guys, but this beer pong champion needs a break for tonight," I called over my shoulder jokingly.

I had an unbelievable high tolerance for alcohol for a girl. I became unaware of my actions just as quick as everyone else, but when it came to vomiting the contents of my stomach out, I was a trooper. Plus, being one who attended too many parties, I was wickedly good in drinking games. But then again, I had to admit that I cheated a few times. But no one needed to know that.

"Melanie!" I called as she came down the stairs, most likely from the bathroom. "I got you another drink,"

"You're trying to get me drunk again, aren't you?" She asked suspiciously, taking a sip from the cup.

"Of course not," I said innocently. But at that precise moment, the doorbell rang and Melanie's eyes widened in excitement.

"Are they here already?" She asked, standing on the tip of her toes, and I couldn't help but laugh at her. Melanie was normally someone who kept her cool.

She was shorter than me by a barely a few inches, but she has what they call 'short people syndrome', and so this left her with the biggest ego ever known. But, being one of my best friends, I got used to her. I however, was taller than all of my female friends at 5, 7". It was barely considered tall for a girl but it was awkward during high school when I was taller than half the guys in my grade.

Lukas passed by me to go open the door. In all honesty, I was eager to meet the British/Irish band, but I would wait until later in the night to introduce myself. Several girls curiously made their way to the door, following Lukas. I sat on the couch next to some classmates and watched as the drunker people pulled stunts in the living room. The room was beginning to spin colorfully as I felt the alcohol taking effect.

"Come with me," Melanie demanded, yanking me up by the arm. I tried to refuse, but it was no use. So I was pulled through the surprisingly thin crowd of my classmates until I was right up front and face to face with the 5 band members.

"Hi," Melanie said coolly, looking up at a face frames with curls. He flashed a grin. "I'm Melanie,"

"Ahh," He said slowly, "The lovely lady who's been answering the phone. I'm Harry"

"This is my friend, Melissa… who… is gone," She scanned the room and caught me leaving towards the living room.

I flashed Melanie a smile and returned to the living room. I had caught an exceptionally good look at a blonde boy my height standing next to an olive skinned boy who I recognized as Zayn. I had recognized him from the similar features he and Lukas shared; the darker skin, brown piercing eyes and same exact grin. I had never actually met him before but I had heard a lot about him and his sister who made a trip to Canada once a year. 

In the living room, all the couches were occupied, so I opted for the floor around the coffee table. I joined a group of people playing poker in the living room and waited for the next round to start. We played for an hour or so, catching up on our new lives at college while around us, the party only got wilder. It seemed as though the One Direction boys wanted to have as much fun as everyone else and so I saw them constantly go into the kitchen for refills. I couldn't help but notice the blonde one looking over at me every couple of minutes. He was extremely cute. Of course I wasn't the only one who had noticed him. Several girls seemed on the prowl.

I was awful at poker and so when they began placing bills in the middle of the table, I gave up and went to find either Melanie or Laura. I hadn't realized how much I had been drinking and so when I stood, I stumbled clumsily into a large frame. Looking up, I was met with the head of curls again. This time, he had the distinct look of someone who had been drinking, with pink cheeks and hazy eyes.

"Melissa, right?" he asked, swinging an arm around my shoulder and pulling me against him.

"Yeah, have you seen Melanie?" I asked, the scent of his cologne filling my head.

"She's with my mates, wanna come with?" he asked, downing the contents of his cup.

"I suppose so," I said, grinning up at him. I knew for a fact that he wasn't of drinking age yet, but he, like many others, seemed to take the legal drinking restriction as a simple suggestion.

"You're gorgeous," he told me cheekily to which I laughed loudly at.

"Thanks. I'm going to grab a refill before, though. Would you like anything?"

"Yeah, whatever is fine," he replied, steering me into the kitchen.

"Caleb, the usual," I said, leaning against the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"You just missed the last bottle. The Irish kid ran off with it," He said, pointing to the hall behind the stairs.

Damn.

I requested 2 more drinks at random for Harry and I and I steered a tipsy Harry over to the back of the house where a fire place was ablaze and several people crowded the squashy sofas. Melanie who seated next to Lukas waved at me, and turned back to Zayn on her left. The small back room was dim; the only light came from the fire place.

Harry pulled me over to the couches and I scanned the people, stopping when I found the last bottle of rum in the hands of the same blonde boy who had been trying to catch my eye all night. He was talking animatedly with another boy on the couch next to him. I slipped under Harry's arm and walked over to the couch, running my fingers through my long, straight hair and sat down on the grey cushion. Feeling the weight of someone else on the couch, the boy turned to me, revealing a set of bright blue eyes.

"Well, hello there," He said ignoring the boy talking behind him.

"Hey," I replied, taking in his features. His skin was smooth, his hair wild and his face was flushed from his consumption of alcohol.

He smiled widely at me, revealing yellow braces.

"Niall," He said, offering his free hand to me.

"Melissa," I replied, taking his warm hand and shaking it.

"You're really pretty," He said

"I'm afraid I can't say the same about you," I told him.

His face fell and he looked taken aback.

"I was only joking," I said with a laugh. "I'm sorry. I've had a few drinks," I admitted with a laugh.

"Haven't we all?" He said, regaining his cheerful face.

"Care to share the rum with a pretty girl?" I asked, nodding to the half empty bottle in his hands.

"Zayn's cousin, Caleb, told me you'd come looking for me, not that I mind," He added with a cheeky grin. He held the bottle out.

"Ahh, the genius plan to lure in the pretty girl," I said, reaching for the bottle and handing my cup to Melanie. I took a swig and sank back into the sofa, sharing a laugh with Niall.

0o0o0o0o0

_**A/N: **__**Hello! I've decided to redo chapter 1. My main character Melissa seemed to change within the first few chapters, so I've changed a few things here and there. I'd love a review!  
>~GiveMeLovee<strong>_


	2. Chapter 2

Forever Young Chapter2

The soft creek of a door pulled me from my sleep. I felt hot, too hot, and it was probably due to the fact that whoever was asleep behind me had an arm thrown carelessly over my back, their body heat washing over me. Melanie, most likely, I told myself. Melanie was unable to keep her side of the bed.

"Niall…"

I breathed deeply, stretched out a leg and snuggled further into the thick, fluffy white blanket.

"Niall," the voice said softly, mockingly. The end of the mattress sunk from someone's weight.

"Niall," the voice called again in singsong.

It wasn't a voice I knew very well, but I recognized it nonetheless and at that moment I wanted nothing more than to tell the person to shut up and go away but my mouth felt thick and exhaustingly dry. Blackened, hole-filled memories slowly seeped into my groggy mind, reminding me of the wild party that took place the night before. A wave of dizziness washed over me and I suddenly regretted every drink I had last night, knowing that when I left the comfort of this bed, it would only be multiplied by 10. My stomach suddenly convulsed and cramped up. Ugh.  
>Someone crawled up the middle of the bed, whispering loudly for Niall, suggesting that there was someone else other than Melanie in this bed with me, but that would be ridiculous-<p>

"Louis, shut up,"

My breathing froze. I heard it perfectly. I even felt the low rumble of the voice that definitely didn't belong to Melanie. Peeling me eyes open and ignoring the new burning sensation behind my eyelids from sheer lack of sleep, I rolled over pulling the covers up past my chest. I noticed a curly haired boy in the doorway, his phone out and it looked as though he was filming. There sat a messy haired Louis next to my knees, on his haunches grinning cheekily. And right next to me lay a very hung over Niall Horan. He peeked through an eye sheepishly.

"Erm... Morning?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

To endure Louis Tomlinson's cruel teasing for the rest of the morning was painfully awkward. I felt so humiliated. Every chance he got, he kept bringing up embarrassing things about Niall and I, and he even had several pictures on his phone to prove it. It seemed as though everyone had. I tried to threaten him to not put my face on twitter, but he only laughed harder.

I was absolutely horrified at the whole situation. Never have I _ever_ done anything like that with someone I didn't know. The whole thing this morning had been the most awkward thing I have ever experienced in my life, and growing up with Melanie, it was hard to beat. The most awkward part was when Louis and Harry finally left the room (after Niall shouted at them), Niall slipped out of the bed in nothing but his boxers and quickly reached down to grab his jeans from last night. He had left the room rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. I had peeked under the covers and I remember letting out a breath of relief that I was still wearing my underwear with a shirt I didn't recognize. I couldn't even believe that I had done such a thing. I mean, I've kissed a few guys before but last night had been something totally new.

When I came downstairs dressed 20 minutes later, Niall had been surprisingly quiet about the whole thing, which Harry loudly announced was abnormal. Of course all the boys already knew that Niall and I had been found in the same bed this morning.

Most of the people left in the early hours of the morning after the party died down. Only a few people slept over, Melanie, Laura, Laura's boyfriend Sam, and I being part of the few. The 5 boys would be staying with Zayn and his aunt and uncle for the week and would be leaving next Sunday morning.

Melanie wasted no time getting familiar with Louis' gossip and she followed me to the bathroom.

"You slept with Niall?" she said, half in awe, half in shock ten minutes later, showing no signs of being as hung over as the rest of us.

"We fell asleep in the same bed," I corrected dully. _Hands gripping my waist desperately while soft lips trailed down my neck, leaving a scorching trail_. I blushed at the thought, embarrassed.

"Right... So how was the sex?" she said, observing me from her perch upon the bathroom counter. I blushed furiously at her question that she asked so bluntly.

"We didn't have sex," I told her, picking my toothbrush out of my bag and squirting a generous amount of toothpaste onto the bristles.

"Did you guys make out at least? Because if not, then that has got to be the biggest waste. Ever," she said, pulling her shoulder length brown locks into a loose bun.

"Of course not," I said sarcastically. Melanie grinned slyly.

"Details Mel, I want detail,"

"Not right now," I told her firmly.

I splashed cold water on my face and sighed deeply.

My head was pounding from every single direction possible and every now and then, my stomach would convulse, threatening to empty the single glass of water I drank earlier onto the floor.

"I'm never drinking again," I breathed, leaning down so that my forehead was pressed against the cool marble bathroom counter.

"Liar. You'll be drinking again this weekend, just watch," Melanie laughed. The worst part was that she was right.

We finished refreshing up and as I was pulling my own tangles into a messy bun, someone appeared in the bathroom door.

"Vas Happenin, ladies?" Zayn said. Zayn was painfully gorgeous, with dark, mesmerizing eyes and an alluring smile.

"Hey Zayn," Melanie greeted as though they've been friends forever rather than meeting last night. He leaned forward and ruffled her hair and in return she shoved him playfully. Melanie had the type of personality that was easy to love and Zayn shared the same type of personality; easygoing. He turned to me and flashed me a toothy smile.

"Lukas told me to tell you that he's hungry. Apparently you said you'd cook us breakfast?" Melanie burst into laughter, gripping onto my shoulder for support. I rolled my eyes and sighed, biting back a grin. I followed Zayn through the familiar halls of my best friend's country home, careful not to move too fast as to not upset my head and stomach. When we reached the kitchen where Lukas, Caleb, the boys, Laura and Samuel sat, Louis swilled in his chair so that he was facing me.

"Do you know how many love bites I counted on Niall just earlier? Seven. Isn't that right, Niall?"

Niall, who was sitting so close to Louis that their shoulders were touching said nothing, and instead continued scrolling through his phone, but I saw the corners of his mouth turned up in amusement. He had changed into a familiar pair of black sweat pants that belonged to Lukas and he wore a red shirt.

"I'm not going to cook you anything if you keep this up, Tomlinson," I threatened lightly, making my way over to the fridge. I knew Louis was the silly one of the 5 boys, but if I had to be honest, it was beginning to annoy me slightly. But I held my tongue as to not hurt his feelings. I knew he was only teasing me.

"There's this one in the shape of a cat, I swear," he continued. Lukas, Melanie, Zayn and Samuel laughed loudly.

"I guess Louis isn't getting any food," Liam joked.

"You're gonna regret that," Melanie said, hopping onto the counter next to the stuff I just pulled from the fridge. He scoffed loudly.

"Her cooking can't be that good," Louis said.

"Trust me, it is," Samuel said, pulling Laura into his lap.

Thankfully, Louis dropped the subject and instead retold another story from last night.

"Coffee?" Lukas offered, holding a mug out to me as he came around the counter. I accepted it and took a sip. He threw an arm around my shoulder and leaned in close to my ear.

"You alright?" He asked, tickling my waist with his other hand. I laughed and ducked out from underneath his arm, careful not to spill my coffee.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I reassured him. I'd get over it… eventually.

0o0o0o0o0o0

I spent the next half an hour bustling around the kitchen, preparing bacon, pancakes, eggs, toast and such. Melanie and Laura chipped in, helping me by setting the table and preparing the plates. I wouldn't say that I'm an amazing cook, but I was decent. This wasn't the first time I had cooked up breakfast for loads of people. It was a rule that after Lukas' parties, I cooked. It was probably one of the reasons he had me over all the time.

When the food was ready, Zayn and Samuel helped me place the food on the table. As everyone sat down at the table, I pulled Louis' plate away and instead placed a tall glass of water in front of him.

"Enjoy," I teased. He spluttered, glancing at Harry, who only laughed at Louis and shrugged.

It turned out that the only place left at the crowded table was between Niall and Liam, and so I offered a shy smile to Niall before squeezing next to him. He already had food on his plate and he brought a fork full of pancake up to his mouth, pausing for a moment to savour the sweetness of the Maple Syrup before chewing greedily.

"Louis, mate, you don't know what you're missing," he said, stabbing at some eggs while he pulled a strip of bacon to his mouth. Louis looked utterly disappointed.

"This isn't fair!" he protested.

"I'm afraid life isn't fair, darling" I retorted, chewing on a strawberry I plucked from a bowl in front of me.

"Louis, this is actually _really_ good," Harry groaned teasingly. Louis pouted.

"Promise you'll stop?" I asked. He hesitated for a moment but agreed after Harry let out an exaggerated groan. I handed him his plate and he wasted no time pulled several pancakes onto his plate.

"Remind me never to mess with that one again," Louis said jokingly, drowning his food in syrup.

Next to me, Niall let out a rather appealing chuckle and shifted in his chair so that his leg brushed mine and finally rested his sock-clad foot against mine with a nudge. I struggled to keep my face straight and I held back the smile that threatened at the corners of my mouth. I brushed it off, but when he did it again, there was no denying that he was doing it on purpose. I lightly nudged him back. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his face pull into a grin.

For the rest of breakfast, our feet danced around under the table while we kept our faces straight ahead, never making eye contact. Here I was, having a foot war under a crowded breakfast table with Niall Horan from One Direction, who I just happened to share a steamy make out session with barely 8 hours ago. Across the table, Melanie grinned at me.

"That was delicious," Niall said, putting his fork down.

I turned to look at him, making eye contact for the first time since we both left the bedroom. Once again, I couldn't help but gape at the shade of blue in his eyes. I had to admit that I had a soft spot for blue eyes.

"Thanks," I replied casually as though I wasn't just having a conversation with myself while staring creepily into his eyes.

"Where did you learn to cook like that?" He asked, leaning back into his chair.

"I picked up a few things at home," I replied, bringing a forkful up to my mouth.

I didn't know what to make of the casual conversation we had afterwards about food, but it made me feel better about the whole situation. I had half expected someone like him to brag about it or make it seem like a whole joke but thankfully he was thoughtful of others. He was sweet.

Suddenly, he turned towards Harry who called his name and my eyes zeroed in on a red mark on his neck. Oddly enough, it resembled the shape of a cat. With an embarrassed laugh, I realized that Louis hadn't been kidding at all.

_**A/N: **__**Hey! For those who read the first version of this chapter, you'll notice that I've changed this chapter a bit. Like I mentioned at the bottom of chapter one, my character Melissa was developing oddly, and so I came back to fix a few things. It's not much better, but overall, it's an improvement.  
>Leave a review!<br>~GiveMeLovee**_


	3. Chapter 3

Forever Young Chapter 3

The 11 of us stuck around the kitchen table, eating until there was nothing left. Though the sun was hidden behind a wall of grey clouds, the light shone on the sheet of pristine white snow that fell during the early hours of the morning, adding to the several feet we ready had. Feeling satisfied and full I pushed my plate away and prepared to stand. The counters and dishes certainly weren't going to clean themselves. With having added 5 chairs to a table of 6, we were extremely crowded and so I knew that leaving the table would be even more of a challenge than it was to sit down. Niall, sensing that I was preparing to stand, swiftly and boldly wrapped his foot around mine, pinning it to one of the legs on the chair and preventing me from getting any further than lifting my bum from my seat. With a yelp, I lost my balance and gripped Niall's shoulder in attempt to regain my balance, all eyes on us. He looked up at me and with a cheeky grin that didn't go unnoticed by the others, he loosened his foot from mine.

"Sorry," he offered with a grin. I shook my head disapprovingly but I was unable to fight back my grin. Thankfully, no one at the table made a comment; they simply returned to their conversations.

I made my way around the table gathering plates and I went over to the sink after pointedly avoiding Louis' waggling suggestive eyebrows. Harry, after several minutes, kindly got up and helped me with washing and drying the dishes.

"Thanks," I said, handing him a clean plate to dry.

"Anytime," He replied with a genuine smile.

My food, being the type to cure hangovers (for the most part) had left everyone in a much better mood. They chattered loudly, swapping funny and embarrassing stories of each other.

"Louis," Niall said, finishing his second cup of tea, "Remember that time you pulled my trousers down in front of a bunch of fans?" Everyone laughed simultaneously.

"I used to do that all the time to Melissa in PhysEd. She started wearing spandex under her joggers afterwards," Melanie said, turning to me and laughing.

"I got you back pretty good eventually, didn't I?" I replied smugly.

"I still hate you for that," She assured me as I handed Harry another bowl to dry.

"Why, what did she do?" Liam asked, leaning back into his chair and crossing his ankles.

"We had a school assembly at the end of our last year before we graduated and she tampered with some of the technical stuff and halfway through the assembly, a video played on the big screen of me singing in the shower. It was awkward," Melanie admitted, chuckling. The boys sniggered and Louis nodded approvingly.

"How did you get a video of her singing in the shower?" Liam asked, looking as amused as the rest. Before I could answer, Melanie interjected casually, as though it was nothing out of the ordinary; "She stalks me when I'm in the shower,"

I laughed loudly.

"And then Melissa got suspended for a week," Laura added with a laugh.

"Shall we see if she's wearing spandex now?" Zayn joked, tossing the last grape on his plate in his mouth.

"Ah, I'm afraid I've gone commando today," I said casually, leaning up against the fridge, arms crossed as the sink gurgled behind me, slowly emptying. Of course, I was joking.

"Even better," Harry said, advancing on me with a smirk. I leaped out of the way, snatching the damp dish towel he put down. I twisted it loosely and held it forward, threatening to whip him. He glanced at the towel in my hand and he laughed at me. He laughed! I flicked my wrist swiftly and the tip of the towel snapped forward, cracking loudly on his thigh. He yelped loudly and danced out of the way, covering his legs with his hands.

"That hurt!" he exclaimed, rubbing back and forth on his upper thigh where I had whipped him. Behind him, Louis, Niall and Zayn howled with laughter.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I apologized mockingly.

"I'll get you back for that," he said, narrowing his eyes while a small smile played at his lips.

"I'd like to see you try," I said, ruffling his curly hair and tossing the dish towel on the counter. I kept an eye on Harry to make sure he didn't pick it up and try the same thing on me. Thankfully, he didn't, but I had a feeling that this wasn't over.

It was odd but I was beginning to feel more comfortable around the 5 boys, as though they were trying to make me feel less embarrassed about the whole situation. I still barely knew them, but I wouldn't mind hanging out with them this week. They were really entertaining to be around.

We finished cleaning up and we headed to the living room where we all sat around the TV trying to decide on the Wii console or a movie. Laura and Samuel announced that they were going to be leaving soon; Laura, Samuel and Laura's family were all going skiing that afternoon and staying at the ski lodge for the next few days. However, Melanie and I were off from our courses for another week and so we had planned to spend it at Lukas', her's and my house.

"Melissa, can you help me with something?" Laura called as she exited the living room. I glanced at Melanie, nodding towards the hall, signaling her to follow me and I heaved myself up from the thickly cushioned chair I was in.

"I'll help too," she said, lifting herself from her perch on one of the sofa's arm.

"Why are you all going?" Louis complained.

"They're going to gossip about the party, obviously," Harry said with a grin and the boys all turned to look at Niall who sat innocently on the couch, flipping through a magazine.

"Can't fool you," I called over my shoulder.

I sat at the kitchen with Laura and Melanie, who both leaned forward excitedly.

"Spill," Laura ordered. I glanced behind me, making sure that no one had followed and when I was satisfied that there were no eavesdroppers I turned to Melanie and Laura. I didn't bother making it sound better than it was. I simply said it like it was.

"Well, I made out with Niall last night. I suppose that technically it was this morning, though. Maybe 2am." I said.

"At what time did you guys have your last drink at?" Laura asked, questioning to see whether it was ourselves or the alcohol that decided to engage in the steamy lip-locking session.

"Well, we weren't quite done when we went to the room," I admitted sheepishly, "He brought a bottle of Scotch up to the room,"

"How did you guys end up in the room?" Melanie interrupted.

"I... I don't know," I said slowly, carefully scanning my hazy memory, "I think we were flirting and holding hands for a bit beforehand, and then my phone said that it had less than 20% left, so I told Niall that I was going to go plug it in to charge in the spare room I was staying in. I guess he followed, and we ended up on the bed," I trailed off toward the end, picking at my fingernail.

"How far did it go? And don't be shy now. I want details," Laura said, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Well, some of the clothes did come off. I had only my bra and underwear on this morning with a shirt that I have no idea where it came from. And then, he gets out of the bed and he's wearing nothing but boxers," I admitted.

"You still didn't tell us what you did," Laura said.

"We did nothing!" I exclaimed, too embarrassed to say more.

"No sex," Melanie recited to Laura.

"No. And none of the stuff you guys are thinking about. Ladies, believe it or not, I do have some dignity," I deadpanned.

"Not even-"

"No!" I interrupted, answering quickly. I didn't need nor want her to finish that question. I knew that they were expecting more from me, but I wasn't as open with them. I mean, I suppose I was honest. Niall and I had only kissed… a lot… and a few clothes came off, but nothing more. Maybe Niall's clothing had come off before he went to sleep… I hadn't thought of that.

"Was it good?" They asked simultaneously.

"Erm, the drunk me says yes, but it was a bit sloppy if I really think of it," I answered after a pause. "Just a bit though. He fumbled a lot, but it could also be because we were ridiculously wasted. But at the same time he also knew what he was doing. I don't really know how to explain it,"

"Do you regret it?" Laura asked.

"Of course not," I replied instantly. What was to regret? Sure, it was embarrassing to deal with afterwards, but I can't deny that I didn't enjoy it.

"The real question is; would you do it again?" Melanie smirked.

This caught me off guard. Would I lock lips with him again? There were things that bothered me, like what people would think. He was famously known on all continents, with over a million fans. He had loads of attention, and if it would cause the attention to be turned on me too, I don't think I would like it very much. Who knows what pictures were already taken last night? But then I had to think that what happened last night was most likely a small fling for the both of us and that it didn't really mean much. Plus, there was no denying that I found him attractive.

"I think so," I said finally, grinning embarrassedly.

A loud cheer suddenly echoed through the kitchen coming from the living room where several 'whoops' and wolf whistles followed moments later. The three of us glanced questioningly at each other. The boys could then be heard all speaking at once, but it was one that reached our ears the easiest, simply because it was shouted loudly.

"Niall is growing up," Louis wailed proudly.

Oh no!

With an embarrassed groan, I hid my face in my hands. He told them! Melanie and Laura were no comfort at all and instead burst into laughter.

"Guess it's no secret," Melanie teased.

Someone could be heard coming up the hall and in sync, we all turned. Samuel poked his head in the kitchen and told Laura that they needed to head out and then he turned back down the hall, but not before glancing at me with a laugh. I sunk low in my chair with a sigh.

"Oh, cheer up," Laura said happily.

"Yeah, you made out with a hot famous guy. Plus, you told us too, so you can't complain about him telling the guys," Melanie added. I suppose it was only fair. I wondered momentarily how Lukas would react, being my best guy friend and all.

I hugged Laura goodbye after Melanie and I watched her leave down the hall with a bag in hand.

"Do you want to come to my house for a bit?" I asked suddenly.

"You don't want them to tease you, do you?"

"Not really," I replied truthfully, glancing at her teasing grin.

"Alright, but only if you promise we'll come back later tonight. Last night I challenged Louis to a game of Twister," she said.

"Fine, you can go tell them. I'll go grab our stuff,"

I went upstairs and entered the spare room at the end of the hall. I gathered the few spare clothes we had brought and tossed them in the bag we shared. I was careful to avoid the clothing strewn messily on the floor where his side of the bed had been. It looked as though someone dumped his entire suitcase on the floor. Making sure to not forget anything, I quickly made the bed that Niall and I had slept in and departed the room.

"Why are you going?" Louis pouted when I entered the living room.

"I have to go feed my cat," I said lamely.

"You have a cat?" Harry asked, perking up at the mention of the feline.

"I've got 3. And I'm sure they're hungry. They might eat each other if I don't hurry," I said, pulling my coat from the closet and putting it on.

"Can I come see your cats?" Harry asked. It took me a moment to realize that he was dead serious.

"Harry, don't scare the poor girl," Niall joked.

It calmed me slightly to see that the boys- especially Louis, weren't going to rub it in my face. I would have been slightly annoyed with them if they had. I was also glad that Niall was acting more or less mature about it... to my face. There was no telling what he said to the boys earlier.

"Maybe later?" I suggested. He made a face but otherwise agreed.

I said goodbye to the 5 boys and Lukas. Caleb had left earlier to go to the city with some friends. And I believe their parents left early that morning to go visit a friend and wouldn't be back until later in the night.

"Come back around 5," Lukas said, ruffling my hair affectionately.

"I'm not cooking you supper," I scoffed and everyone laughed.

"I didn't say that!" He replied innocently. I swear the only reason he has me around is because I'm a decent cook.

With one last goodbye, Melanie and I stepped out into the snow covered ground and shuffled over to my car.

"Niall looked disappointed," she said as I drove down the long lane towards the road.

"I noticed,"

"I think he likes you," she teased, nudging my arm.

"Whatever," I replied, smiling widely.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

**A/N;**_** Once again, I've redone this chapter. Thanks for reading, and I'd love to see a review!  
>~GiveMeLovee<strong>_


	4. Chapter 4

Forever Young Chapter 4

The area that Melanie, Lukas and I lived in was more or less the country, where your neighbour was half a mile away on each side. Lukas and I lived a few miles outside the small town while Melanie was the only one who lived in town. It was nice to live in such a quiet region. I could walk out in my backyard naked if I pleased and no one would see. Not that I ever have…

"Could you drive any slower?" Melanie complained as a car passed us.

"I'm sure I could," I said thoughtfully, slowing down, "But, since I know you love my fast driving, I suppose I could go a little faster. Excuse me, though, for driving the speed limit," I added sarcastically.

I accelerated a lot higher than the speed limit, passing the grey Toyota that passed us only moments ago. There was no worry for being caught by the police over since the town we lived in was so little that police around here was unheard of. As soon as I became of appropriate age, I got a summer job at the only restaurant in our town and in the fall, I took my driving course. I wasn't the only teenager to do this. We lived out in the middle of nowhere, and so the nearest mall was over an hour away in all directions, unless we went to the United States in which the border was only 5 minutes away to the south.

We pulled into the local gas station and Melanie picked up four French Vanilla coffees, two for Melanie and I, one for her brother Nicolas, and another for my brother Michael who was most likely still sleeping at home while I filled up on gas.

"So what happened to you last night?" I asked, sipping my coffee.

"What do you mean?" She asked quizzically as we drove to her house; she needed more clothes.

"I don't remember seeing you,"

She burst out laughing. "I was with you most of the night! You don't remember _anything_, do you?" She teased. "Zayn and I were on the couch with you guys-"

"_Zayn and I_?" I repeated as we pulled into Melanie's driveway.

"Yeah," She grinned.

"Did I miss anything?" I said, surprised.

"Not really," She answered as we walked into her house.

"Hey mom," She called loudly, kicking the snow off her shoes and tossing her jacket on the couch.

"Moms not here," Her brother called, coming into the living room. I didn't even bother trying to hide the fact that I was ogling her shirtless brother's toned chest.

"Oh, hey," She said, "When is she going to be back?"

"She's in the States with dad. She said maybe 4," He answered, ducking away from Melanie who reached up to ruffle her brother's blonde locks.

"Hey you," He said to me. I waved back with a grin.

While Melanie made her way to her room, I followed her older brother Nicolas into the kitchen, surprised to see my brother sitting there.

"How'd you get here?" I asked, placing the two remaining coffees on the table. Michael reached out and took one.

"Nicolas picked me up last night after you picked Melanie up for the party," he answered.

Loads of people found it interesting that Melanie and I were best friends, and so were our brothers.

I left the kitchen and made my way to the basement where Melanie's room was. She had music turned on and she was throwing both of our dirty clothing in her laundry basket. We were over at each other's houses so often that when our mothers did the laundry, they knew who's clothing was who's, and folded it separately.

I collapsed on her bed and pulled my phone out of my pocket and turned it on for the first time since last night. I scrolled through the few texts I missed and replied to them. Something occurred to me and I opened up my pictures.

"Melanie!" I exclaimed, flipping through the folder of pictures I found. Melanie finished tucking her hair into an elastic, jumped on the bed next to me and peered over my shoulder. She frowned for a moment, staring at the picture and then she burst into laughter, rolling lazily on the bed. There were several pictures on my phone of Niall and I, some where we were only holding hands, and others where were sharing a laugh, and even others where he had his lips pressed to my face.

"Did you take these?" I asked accusingly.

"Yeah, there's even a video too, I think," She said, still laughing. She took my phone from me and flipped through it. I glanced over her shoulder and watched as a short video played on the screen. It was poorly taken but I watched myself walk crookedly towards the couch and sit clumsily between Niall and Melanie (who was recording) and hand Niall a red cup.

"Do you have a phone?" I heard Niall ask loudly over the music.

"Yeah, but Melanie has it," I had replied, pointing dangerously close to Melanie's face while Zayn, out of view, laughed loudly.

I had to listen closely to the phone at what Niall said next because a group of people in the background hollered loudly.

"Do you want to swap numbers?" He asked, pulling his own phone out of his grey pants.

I watched myself take his phone and screw my face up in concentration as I typed in my name and number.

"Zayn, take a picture," Niall called loudly, his accent thick, and Zayn came into view and took the phone from me. I watched as Niall wrapped an arm around my waist, pull me close and press his lips to my cheek while I faked a surprised face, my mouth open in an 'O'. Zayn snapped the picture and handed it back to my outwaiting hand. Then the video ended.

Melanie 'awed teasingly and I whacked her with a pillow which she avoided expertly.

Melanie dropped my phone in surprise when it suddenly rang. 'Call from Laura', it said.

With fumbling hands, I picked it up and answered it.

"Hey, did you know that Alisha posted pictures on Facebook this morning?," She said.

I leaped off the bed, my muscles popping and sat at Melanie's desk, pressing the spacebar twice on her laptop and the screen came to life. Melanie watched over my shoulder as I logged in. I knew right away what I was supposed to be looking at because it was the first thing on my home page.

"Who's that," a voice asked, referring to the picture on the screen of me and Niall mid-laugh while hand-in-hand. I whipped around and saw Michael lean in and scan the pictures on the screen with a frown.

"No one!" I exclaimed, closing the laptop screen quickly.

"Melissa made out with a famous guy last night," Melanie interjected.

I reached out and smacked her arm, but she only laughed more. I wasn't impressed with her.

"Did she, now?" Nicolas called, poking his head into Melanie's room.

With my phone still pressed to my ear, I got up from the desk and left the room, hiding my pink face and ignoring Michael's question.

"I'm going to text Alisha and ask her to take them off," I told Laura over the phone.

"Yeah, we don't want those to get out, do we?" She replied teasingly.

After a few minutes, I hung up with Laura, who said that she needed to finish packing and I scrolled through my phone. I sent the Alisha a text, asking her to take the images of me off Facebook and she replied a minute later, agreeing and apologizing.

_**Thanks a bunch! & Don't worry about it (:**_**,** I replied.

I returned to the room and stood in the doorway.

"Is anyone hungry?" I asked before the boys could question me about last night.

"Are you offering to cook?" Nicolas asked suspiciously.

"I am," I replied, pocketing my phone.

"Sweet," Nicolas replied.

The four of us made our way upstairs to the kitchen while Melanie accused me of being sneaky and I pulled out the ingredients to make chicken noodle soup, something that would keep me occupied for a while, while the Michael and Nicolas told Melanie and I about the movie they saw last night. Afterwards, we simply hung around in the living room, flipping through TV channels.

At half four after her parents came home, Melanie packed a fresh bag of clothes and a few other stuff and we left her house and drove up the road to mine. I begged Melanie to help me with the chores. I lived on a small farm and while my own parents were away on vacation, my mother left Nicolas and I responsible for the animals. When we reached my house, Melanie grudgingly put on a pair of rubber boots and followed me out to the barn to clean the few horse stalls and give food to the horses and the chickens. Half an hour later, Melanie pocketed several carrots and stood at the gate calling for the horses. They perked up and trotted through the snow towards her. She fed the 5 horses each a carrot while I collected the eggs, and after bringing the horses in their stalls, we left the cold barn and made our way to the house for some hot cocoa.

I took a well-needed shower and dressed in a pair of black leggings and a pull-over hoodie. I filled up both the cat and dog food and water bowls before curling up on the couch with my cat while I waited for Melanie to shower.

I was watching a movie that was playing on the TV when my phone alerted me of an incoming text message. I glanced at the clock above the mantel; it was nearing 6. I picked up my phone, careful not to bother the cat sleeping in my arms, and looked down at the screen at a number I didn't recognize.

_Hey, it's Harry_, it read.

I freed my other arm and replied; _Hey Harry, how's it going?_

I found it bizarre that I was texting Harry Styles. Harry wrote back almost instantly.

_It's going good. The boys wanted me to text you to see if you and Melanie wanted to come over? We ordered some pizza. _

I received a text from Lukas only moments later.

_Get your ass over here, now. I'm hungry. _

I replied back to both of them with identical messages saying we'd leave in 20 minutes when Melanie got out of the shower.

I reluctantly left the comfort of the couch. I scooped up my cat and made my way upstairs to my room. I placed my cat down on the bed and dug through my drawers for a pair of jeans. Melanie came in my room 5 minutes later fully dressed with a towel wrapped around her head.

"Harry texted me saying they ordered pizza and they want us to go over," I informed her.

"Okay, just let me dry my hair," She said, picking up the blow dryer.

I changed into a pair of jeans and threw a grey cardigan over my white tank top. I proceeded to hop on one foot, trying to get a pair of mismatched socks on my feet without falling. 10 minutes later, Melanie turned the dryer off and pulled her hair back in a loose bun, pinning the loose strands back with some bobby pins. She walked over to my closet and threw the doors open. She walked to the back and reached up on the top shelf for the tattered box of Twister.

"I'm going to kill myself tonight," she said as we bounded down the stairs.

"You're not flexible at all, are you?" I asked amusedly.

"Nope," She replied, popping her lips on the 'p'.

I made sure the animals had enough food and water left before I put my shoes and jacket on and grabbed the keys.

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Right hand yellow," I called, chewing on the last slice of pizza.

Liam groaned and glanced under Louis at the nearest yellow circle. With his tongue out in concentration, he shifted his position and reached under Louis, smacking his hand down on the yellow spot.

"Hurry up," Harry called, his voice stained. Next to me, Leanne howled with laughter. I flicked the little hand and it spun before landing on a colored circle.

"Zayn, right foot on red," I said.

The 6 boys were currently tangled up on the Twister mat, limbs all intercrossing. After the pizza, we had set up the Twister mat in the middle of Lukas' living room. Harry had been faced with Niall's bum for the last 7 spins, and Louis and Lukas were currently straining their muscles in the most painful positions.

Zayn easily slid his foot a circle to the left.

"Niall, right hand green,"

"That's impossible!" He cried, bending his neck awkwardly to glance at the nearest green circle.

"Just do it," Harry cried, his face red from being in a staining position for so long.

I watched as Niall warily lifted his right hand and crossed it under his left, reaching for the green circle. He was only inches away when he cried out and collapsed on the mat, pulling everyone down with him except for Zayn.

"I win!" Zayn cried, hopping off the mat as the boys untangled themselves. Then, they simultaneously pounced onto Zayn, tackling him roughly to the ground. It took the boys several minutes before the boys settled down again. Niall collapsed next to me on the couch smacked my leg playfully.

"It's your fault," He accused jokingly.

"It's not my fault you guys aren't flexible," I shrugged smugly.

"Oh, and you could do better?" Harry called, rubbing his sore wrist.

"She probably could," Melanie said.

"Then I challenge you!" Louis said, grabbing my arm and pulling me from the couch. Niall protested lightly, but then took over the spinning board I tossed at him.

"You too, Melanie," I said, yanking her up from the floor.

Harry joined in and I took my socks off and waited by the mat.

"Melissa," Niall said, looking up at me with twinkling eyes. I looked down shyly. "Right foot on red,"

I stepped out and placed my right foot in the middle of the mat on the red circle.

"Melanie, left hand green,"

"Louis, left foot green,"

"Harry, right foot Yellow"

The game went on for a while until we were all messily tangled on the mat. My face was close to Harry's and he glanced over my shoulder.

"Enjoying the view, Niall?" Harry called teasingly.

I refused to let my face flush and I lowered my bum from the air causing Louis to laugh loudly.

"Jealous, Styles?" I heard him call as he flicked the board. Harry chuckled as my face turned a light shade of pink.

When my name was called, I easily slid my left foot under everyone across the mat. Melanie, however, was not as flexible as me and lost her balance on her turn, causing everyone to topple over while I stayed in my position. With a satisfied snigger, I pulled Melanie up.

"That doesn't count!" Louis protested, "She cheated"

"Louis, give up, your such a sore loser," Zayn, having won all the other games, called out.

"Oh yeah? You go up against her," Louis retorted, stretching his sore muscles.

"Fine," Zayn said, hopping up and taking his vest off.

"This is going to be good," Melanie said, perching on the edge of the couch.

Liam, Lukas and Niall had somehow been dragged from their seats and we all stood around the mat. Louis and Harry fought over the spinning board and Louis eventually won. I learned quickly that even though Louis was the oldest, he was by far the silliest.

The game lasted longer than any, and it was only after 10 minutes that Lukas collapsed on the mat. The four of us who remained were grateful for the bit of extra space. This round was much more difficult than the others, and it seemed as though Louis was not even using the board, but simply calling out colors that would put us in the most awkward position. Niall was currently positioned so that he was on all fours but tummy up. And then Louis called out for me to move my right hand on the other side of Niall. The easiest way was to go over him, which left me in a stained position as I hovered over him. Struggling to keep his position, we glanced at each other and burst into laughter.

The game quickly got dirty. The rules were simply, nothing but your hands and feet could touch the mat. Liam, surprisingly, began bumping people, trying to make them loose their balance. It was the quiet ones you had to watch out for! I learned quickly to avoid his shoulders and hips.

"Louis, hurry up," I panted as he and Harry began fighting over who spun next.

At that moment, Zayn let out a panicked cry.

"I'm slipping!" he cried, and collapsed on the mat, pulling Liam down with him.

Liam wailed in defeat and punched Zayn in the arm, tackling him onto the couch. Now it was only Niall and I left, making it much easier. The game, which had been going on for over 15 minutes now, steadily became much more difficult. It seemed as though it was never going to end. Eventually, when we were side by side, I leaned to the side and bumped him roughly but he didn't fall.

"Did you see that?" He cried to Harry, "She's violent!"

"And she's going to win if you don't do anything," Louis crackled.

Niall whipped back around and glared playfully at me before shoving me lightly. This went on for several more rounds until I shoved him rougher than I ever had as he was reaching under me for a yellow circle. With a grunt, he lost his balance and grabbed my arm, pulling me down with him causing everyone to laugh in surprise.

As soon as it was over, the half of them leaped off the couch and left towards the kitchen for more food and the remaining got up to replace the couches.

"You're such a cheater!" I accused, shoving him lightly.

He grinned proudly and held his hand out to pull me up. I tentatively placed my hand in his and he pulled me up.

Leaning close to my face, he said, "You were no better," And then with my hand still in his, I allowed myself to be pulled towards the kitchen. What was that?

Lukas came down the stairs with blankets after Melanie and Harry suggested a movie. Liam and I grabbed some junk food and poured them at random into large bowls and the 8 of us returned to the living room, closing all the lights on the way. We voted on Prom Night and fought to claim the couches. There were only 2 sofas that sat 3 each but we managed to squeeze 4 on each. Lukas, Melanie, Zayn and Liam occupied one while Louis, Harry, Niall and I had the other. As the previews passed, I got up to turn out the last of the lights and to grab a blanket from the floor. I squeezed in between Harry and Niall.

"Larry Stylinson going strong then, boys?" I joked as Harry snuggled his face in the crook of Louis' neck.

"Oh yeah," Harry answered adoringly and Liam and Zayn retched loudly.

Niall leaned over me with his phone out and snapped a picture.

"I'm going to put it on Twitter," He told me as I wrapped the blanket around me. I offered him some and he agreed, pulling it over the both of us. I bit my lip and offered a shy grin. A few feet away, Melanie waggled her eyebrows. The movie started and my attention was turned to the screen- the only source of light in the house.

Half way through the movie, Niall snaked his hand into mine and linked our fingers. I looked up at him and he grinned, his blue eyes twinkling. We stayed like this for another 10 minutes until I shifted to get more comfortable. I curled up on the couch, careful not to bother Harry and I leaned against Niall's side. He turned his head and blinked at me. He inched his face closer to mine, his warm breath washing over me and my stomach fluttered. He pressed his lips to mine and my head spun lightly as he pulled away. It was quick and it was over before it had even begun, and no one seemed to notice that we had even shared a kiss. With a sheepish grin, I bit my lip and turned back to the movie, not wanting to draw attention to us. Under the blanket, he played with my fingers affectionately.

Harry, keeping his eyes glued to the movie, leaned closer to me.

"I saw that," He whispered with a smirk.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_**A/N: **__**So here's another chapter! I'm still not fully satisfied with it, but I don't know how to fix it. Anyways, please leave a review! It'd mean the world to me (:  
>~GML<strong>_


	5. Chapter 5

Forever Young Chapter 5

"Don't be stupid," Melanie whimpered, "You're going to get killed!"

We watched as the girl ran into the unused part of the hotel, abandoning her heals in a hall. Niall gripped my hand tightly while he peaked though the fingers of his other hand. The music had gone deathly silent and now the only thing we could hear was the girl's ragged breath. I held my own breath and we all waited for it, for the man to jump out. Suddenly, the front door behind me flew open and the eight of us screamed.

The light in the living room came on to reveal Lukas' parents standing in the doorway, looking startled. His mother, Diane, paused and stared at us, confused, wondering why we had all screamed.

Heart pounding loudly, I glanced over at Melanie who had her hand clasped over her mouth and we burst out laughing. The others joined in moments after.

"Did we scare you?" His dad asked with a laugh.

Lukas' parents turned the lights off and retreated to the kitchen, chuckling. I shared a nervous laugh with Niall and we all turned back to the screen having missed one of the scariest parts. I scooted closer to Niall, resting my head on his shoulder.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Girls, it's really bad out there. You'd be better to spend the night here and drive home tomorrow morning after the snow ploughs," Lukas' father said, glancing at the clock that read 11:30.

"He's right. I'd feel much safer if you slept over for tonight. You can have the spare room or the couch, whatever you prefer," Diane added worriedly.

I turned to Melanie. "I guess we can sleep over,"

Diane visibly relaxed. It was nice to see that she cared about us so much. Lukas, Melanie and I had been best friends since high school, spending all our spare time at each other's houses.

"I can lend you some pyjamas if you need," she offered.

"Actually," Melanie said, "I left my overnight bag in Melissa's car earlier, I could go fetch it,"

"You girls let me know if you need anything," she said in a motherly tone. Then, she and her husband went upstairs, claiming it was past their bedtime.

"Come on, I think they're playing X-box upstairs in Lukas' room," I said.

"You go. I'm going to get my bad before it gets any worse out there," Melanie said and I told her that my car keys were in my jacket pocket. I wandered up the stairs towards the sound of screams and gun shots.

"Keep it down boys, Diane and I are going to bed down the hall," Hector said before backing out of the room. With a 'goodnight', he left to his room and closed the door.

I walked quietly over to the closed door and twisted the knob. I poked my head in and saw all the boys squeezed on the long red couch in Lukas's room playing video games. I watched Liam reach for the TV remote and turn the volume down.

"Hey," I said, slipping in. The boys all turned around simultaneously and were all surprised to see me still here. Liam and Zayn turned back to the game quickly and Niall smiled widely at me.

"What are you still doing here?" Lukas asked.

"Oh, I see how it is," I frowned, backing out of the room. The boys protested loudly despite the fact that Lukas's parents were sleeping, and Zayn whacked Lukas on the arm lightly.

"Come back," Harry begged, throwing a pillow at Lukas who dodged it skillfully.

"What's going on?" Melanie asked, appearing next to me.

"Lukas doesn't want us here," I sniffed sadly.

"I was kidding!" Lukas said weakly and Liam threw a sock at him, "Because you said you were leaving like 15 minutes ago!"

"Your mom would rather we sleep over," I said, stepping into the room, Melanie close behind me.

"The weather is really bad," Melanie explained, dropping her purple bag onto the carpet. She joined Liam and Zayn on the duvets spread out on the floor between the couch and the flat screen, "So we claimed the spare room. Sorry Niall," She added smugly.

Zayn smiled brightly at the news and I saw him exchange a pleased grin with Niall. I pretended not to notice. I went over to Lukas's bed and tugged at the blanket until it came free and I sat between Liam and Harry. Harry then attacked me and attempted to steal the grey duvet but I wouldn't allow it. I fought back roughly and threatened to push him off the couch if he didn't stop. Louis complained about losing his round in the game because of Harry, and so Harry and I settled down, spreading the blanket over our laps.

The eight of us spent 2 hours passing around the two controllers and taking turns on the games we played. The boys, minus Lukas, were astonished at Melanie and I's gaming skills.

"They play more than me," Lukas told the others as he lost yet another round from playing against me. I handed my remote to Niall, who had ended up at my feet with his head resting against my crossed legs. I watched them play, but mostly, I was fighting the urge to touch his hair. Someone, a fan, told me that he was a natural brunette, and I could only imagine how much more attractive he'd be, which was hard, seeing as he was already ridiculously good looking. I received a text minutes later and pulled my phone out. I replied to Laura's text. Harry peered over to read my message.

"You guys text like crazy! You've been at it all day," Harry commented with a nudge. I flashed him a grin and decided that it was time to get up and stretch. I stood on the couch, using Liam's shoulder for support and crawled over the back of the couch, not wanting to bother Niall who was concentrating on the task ahead.

"Lukas, I'm stealing your laptop," I said, walking over to his desk and pulling his MacBook Air from under a clean pile of unfolded clothes.

I sat on his bed, legs crossed, and turned his laptop on. I logged into Facebook on one tab and I pulled open tumblr on another. I checked all my notifications and went through a few images of the party last night and replied to a few messages before logging off. When I pulled my tumblr tab forward, Melanie uncurled herself from the blanket she had around her and dragged the blanket over to the bed next to me. Throwing it over us, we scrolled through my dashboard occasionally laughing at something amusing while the boys switched games on the console. Suddenly, we came across a picture and I burst out laughing.

"Is that me in the back?" Melanie asked incredulously.

It was the picture that Niall took earlier with his phone of Louis and Harry on the couch. The bolded title read 'Larry Stylinson'.

"These people work fast; it already has over 7000 notes!" I exclaimed.

"What are you girls looking at?" Liam called. I turned the computer in my lap and tilted the screen. The boys laughed loudly, causing Lukas to hiss at them to be quiet.

"Is that tumblr?" Harry asked, pausing the game.

"How do you know what tumblr is?" Melanie asked, grabbing a bag of chips on the bed and taking a handful.

"Harry has one. We all do," Louis said.

"Yeah, and Harry's is full of cats," Niall smirked.

"You're so weird, Harry," I murmured. I turned the screen back to me and reloaded the page, looking at new posts. I found it interesting that the boys all had tumblr. The fans obviously didn't know, for it would have been all over tumblr in a second.

"What's your tumblr?" he asked, pulling his phone out and passing the controller to Liam after Louis complained about the game being on pause too long. I spelled it out to him and a moment later I had gained a follower. I clicked on the link and Niall hadn't been kidding when he said it was full of cats.

"You should post on tumblr that you're hanging out with One Direction, you'll gain a billion followers" Zayn suggested.

"She already has over 2000, she doesn't need any more!" Melanie scoffed playfully.

But Harry insisted, so I got off the bed and pulled my phone out. I took a strand of my long straightened hair and pulled it over both of our faces like moustaches with Harry holding the other end. We had to take several shots because Harry kept dropping the strand, and I settled with one where Liam had purposely put a pair of Lukas's clean boxer shorts on his head in the background. I sent the image to myself and took my seat next to Melanie on the bed. I posted it a few minutes later and Melanie and I returned to looking at a blog she had discovered earlier in the week. 20 minutes later, I checked my dashboard and stared wide-eyed at the top. I had acquired a ridiculous amount of messages, all pertaining to the image.

"This is your fault!" I complained to Harry.

"It's not my fault I'm so sexy," He retorted, flopping heavily on the bed next to me.

All of the questions were about the image, asking if I was with the boys, who I was and asking where we were. Unable to answer them all tonight, I selected a few and Harry helped me answer them (as to not give out too much information). I mentioned that we were in Canada and that the boys were on vacation for a week and I sent out another message apologizing for not answering all the questions. At 3 am, I yawned widely and pushed the computer away while Liam swore quite colorfully after losing against Louis.

"I'm tired," I announced, standing from the bed and stretching. I caught Harry eyeing the skin that showed when my sweater went up a few inches and I quickly pulled my shirt down with a disapproving gaze at him. He chuckled and shrugged.

"There are some stuff in the bag, help yourself," Melanie said, looking up from her phone.

Everyone said goodnight and I picked up the bag up and walked tiredly to the hall feeling Niall's eyes on me the whole way. I entered the spare room and I closed the door behind me and went to the bedside table and turned on a lap so that it lit the room dimly. I noticed Niall's suitcase again on the floor next to my feet, opened widely with clothing hanging out. God, he's messy!

I dug through Melanie's bag and pulled out a pair of sweat pants with elastics on the bottom and I changed into them and a thick-strapped tank top, folding my clothing and dropping them on the floor next to the bag. I left the room and headed to the bathroom down the hall and washed my face. After being over at each other's house so often, we all kept a spare toothbrush at each other's house, so I brushed my teeth and pulled my hair into a bun on my head and retreated to the grey room and crawling into bed in the cold covers. I sat up against the headboard, putting the pillow I used last night behind my back and pulling the covers up to my waist. Next to me lie the pillows Niall had his hand on last night. I could smell the light fragrance he had on him last night on the pillow, and I resisted the odd urge to smell it. Laughing embarrassingly to myself, I pulled my phone and replied to another text from Laura and sent another to my brother explaining that I'd be over sometime tomorrow. I also let him know to not forget to put the horses out tomorrow morning and make sure that the animals were fed and I promised him that I'd make it up to him.

A soft knock echoed through the room and I looked up.

"It's unlocked," I called softly, "I've got to talk to you about N- Oh, sorry, I thought you were Melanie!"

Niall came in the room. "Sorry. I just thought I'd grab my stuff now so I don't wake you later," He said hesitantly.

"Oh, sure, go ahead!" I said, gesturing to his suitcase to the left of the bed.

I felt my face burn. I had been about to say that I needed to talk about him, and I just about said his name. I was sure he knew though. How embarrassing.  
>I turned back to my phone and typed back to Laura who replied, but I was hyperaware that Niall was only a foot away from me. He pulled out some clothing and with a smile he left the room, most likely to get changed because he left his phone on the edge of the bed next to my leg. My blush finally died down and I noticed how much more I was blushing lately. Blushing wasn't something that I did often. Actually, it was quite rare. I was normally comfortable around everyone, always joking. I didn't know what it was but something about Niall made me feel shy around him.<p>

5 minutes later, he returned, dressed in sweatpants much like mine and a white t-shirt. I could see the outline of his abs though the shirt, and I turned away quickly, not wanting to get caught. Suddenly, he sat on the bed next to me.

"Can I ask you something," He asked.

"You just did," I joked, putting my phone in my lap.

"Something else," He said, amused. He reached over and flipped the cover of his suitcase closed with his bare foot to hide the mess within.

"Sure," I replied.

What was he going to ask? Was he finally going to talk about what was going on between us? Mind you, it wasn't much, but it was enough to leave me confused. Was it about the kiss we shared? Or was it something completely irrelevant? I didn't quite know if I really wanted to talk about the whole situation. I was sure that I was making it more than it was. There was no way that this was just Niall having a little fun. It must come often with so many fans. I didn't want to picture sweet and funny Niall with other girls, thinking that perhaps I was just another one of _those_ girls. I suddenly felt silly that I was probably overthinking this whole thing.

"Does Melanie like Zayn?" He finally asked.

I let out a breath of air I was unaware I was holding. I couldn't quite decide if I preferred this question over if he'd asked me about the two of us.

"Yeah, why wouldn't she?" I replied, not quite understanding the question.

"But does she _like_ him?" He repeated, stretching and bringing a leg up on the bed so that it rested against mine on top of the blanket. I raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"I… I don't know," I answered truthfully, "She hasn't mentioned anything,"

"Could you maybe ask her?"

"Yeah, I suppose I could. Why? Does Zayn like her or something?"

Niall stretched again, his shirt lifting to reveal the band of his Calvin Klein boxers. I turned my head and told myself I was being polite but I knew that it was a lie. I bit back a smile when he leaned back casually on my legs. It felt oddly natural.

"Well, he doesn't know her very well but he's said that he was interested," Niall grinned.

I had to hold back the strong urge to 'awe' but I did let a cheesy grin slide by. Zayn Malik from One Direction was interested in my little Melanie!

"But don't tell Melanie," He added quickly.

"I won't," I replied, my cheeks aching from grinning.

This was so adorable! If I thought of it, Melanie has grown fonder of Zayn more than the rest since the party, joking with him and sitting next to him without a second thought. Perhaps she did. But then again, it wasn't hard to imagine someone like Zayn as more than a friend. He was funny, polite, considerate of others, sweet and absolutely beautiful. It wasn't hard to picture Melanie with Zayn.

"She's not seeing anyone at the moment, is she? She spends a lot of time texting someone," Niall asked after a moment.

"No, that's Laura. I've been texting her too. We have a 3-way going on," I said. "Melanie has been keeping Laura updated. Laura finds it fascinating that Melanie and I got to spend the day with a couple celebrities," I laughed lightly.

Niall frowned a smile, staring intently at me. I brought my hand up to my face self-consciously. "Is there something on my face?"

He shook his head and reached out to pull my hand away from my face.

"You have a really pretty laugh," He said, snaking his warm fingers through my own.

Then something happened, something I've never experienced before. An electric shock ran from my fingertips right up my arm and my chest suddenly felt tight as my heart fluttered. I looked down at our hands in my lap, my skin a shade darker than his. His thumb softly caressed mine softly.  
>I looked back up at him and as I met his intense gaze I shivered. In the back of my head I told myself that it wasn't normal to feel so strongly for someone after knowing them for barely two days but I ignored this thought as he leaned in and pressed his grinning lips against my own. He kissed me softly, his warm lips urging me to respond. I complied happily, reaching my free hand up to his neck where I caressed his hair.<p>

"Gross," someone scoffed. Niall and I jumped away and I flushed furiously. With a teasing grin, Melanie went over to her bag and dug through it, pulling out a pair of pants.

"Wrap it up guys, I want to go to sleep," She said, amused at the whole situation

Niall mumbled a quick 'goodnight' to me and left the room pink in the cheeks. Melanie closed the door behind him and slowly made her way back to her bag, glancing at me teasingly.

As she pawed through her bag, I held my breath, waiting for her to torment me with endless teasing, but it didn't come. I watched as she held back a grin the entire time she was getting ready for bed.

"Push over," She said, taking her socks off. I moved from the middle of the bed onto Niall's side and I was sure she did it on purpose. She slipped under the covers and I reached behind me to turn the lamp off. The room darkened and I sank into the mattress facing Melanie. Melanie placed her phone between us so that it illuminated our faces bizarrely and grinned excitedly.

"Well?" She said, "How was it?"

Not even bothering to hide the giddy feeling within me, I smiled impossibly wide.

"He's not sloppy at all," I gushed and Melanie laughed quietly.

"What's going on between the two of you?" she asked, sharing my excitement.

My face fell and I felt a frown upon my brow.

"I don't know," I admitted. "We haven't exactly spoken about it. It confuses me. I mean, that was the third time he's kissed me and he holds my-"

"Wait, the third?" Melanie interrupted, "When was the second?"

"Oh, it was during the movie. I don't know, it just happened. One moment I look over at him and the next he swooped in and kissed me. It was just a peck though. Harry saw," I added.

Melanie nodded thoughtfully and waited for me to continue.

"So like I said, he's kissed me twice today, and we certainly weren't… Erm… smashed, and he holds my hand a lot. I don't know what to make of it. I know he's from the UK and he's going back in less than a week, so this can't be more than a fling for him. I'll be honest with you, it might upset me if he just ups and leaves. I've never really taken much seriously when it comes to guys and such, but I have the odd feeling that he leaving is going to bother me a lot more than it should. I might just go home tomorrow and stay there until they leave, but at the same time, I don't want to. What should I do?" I asked, making a face.

Melanie didn't reply right away. She always struggled with advice. She normally tells me to talk to Laura, but Laura wasn't available at the moment.

"I was actually talking with the other guys just earlier when you and Niall were doing god know what in here-" I kicked her beneath the sheets, "and they say that apparently Niall likes you. Liam says he's never acted shy around a girl like he does with you and Louis mentioned something about the way he looks at you, y'know, cheesy stuff,"

I couldn't help but be pleased at this new bit of information. It didn't change much, because no matter what happened, he was leaving and I was staying here.

"So what do I do?"

"I don't know," She answered truthfully. "I know you don't believe in long distance relationships if it ever came to that, plus you two live on different continents. You know I'm awful at giving advice but I would say just make the best of it while he's here, even if it means just friends. Let things unroll. Call Laura tomorrow, she'll know better than me. But in the end, it's you who'll know best,"

0o0o0o0o0o0 _**Niall's PointOfView**_

I entered the room and all 5 boys turned to me.

"Niall, where did you go?" Louis asked, launching a pillow at my head that I didn't even bother dodging.

"Look at his face. I bet he raided the fridge," Harry sniggered, flipping his curls out of his face.

I shrugged and grinned wider. I made my way to the empty couch and sank into it, staring blankly at the wall while I ran my fingers through my hair, leaving it standing on it's ends.

"It's Melissa, isn't it?" Lukas said knowingly.

Harry and Louis glanced at each other and bolted from one end of the room, hopping over the back of the couch and sitting on either side of me.

We've never hidden anything from one another so it was easy for me to feel comfortable with the idea of sharing my jumbled thoughts with the boys. Even Lukas, who we had all quickly grown closer to.

"Yeah," I replied casually, picking at a loose thread on my sweat pants.

"What happened?" Liam asked, lowering himself in the pile of duvets.

"I kissed her again." I answered, looking up at the boys. They all congratulated me with encouraging claps on the back. I grinned sheepishly.

After telling them about what happened, Lukas spoke. "I was actually beginning to think that she was into girls," He said.

"That's hot," Harry admitted and I smacked him in the arm.

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

"She's just never shown an interest in any guys in a long time. I even set her up with my other friend and she wasn't into it at all."

"So does this mean she likes Niall?" Liam interjected.

"She might. But, I mean, no one really knows. Except Melanie. They share everything together. But they've come to me for guy advice before, like I've gone to them for advice on girls, so she might do that," Lukas said, cracking open a bag of chips despite the fact that it was nearing 4am.

We chatted quietly about the girls, and then about random things such as our previous tours and things we could do during the week until Harry fell asleep slumped against my shoulder. I shook him awake lightly and he crawled onto the floor and curled up into the blankets. Lukas pulled the cushions off the couch and unfolded the bed within. Liam and I were the first to claim it, leaving Zayn with his cousin in the huge King sized bed and Louis on a foam mattress on the floor.

As the lights went off, Zayn shifted in the bed and whispered across the room.

"What did Melissa say about Melanie?"

"Sorry, I forgot. She said Melanie hasn't said anything but she'd ask tomorrow. Don't worry, I told her not to say anything," I replied yawning widely.

"Thanks mate," He answered and I could hear the smile within his voice. We all said our goodnights.

The dark room slowly filled with the sound of snoring but no matter how hard I tried, sleep just wouldn't come to me. My thoughts were spinning in my head, and I couldn't get her face out of my head. Her long brown hair, her innocent brown eyes framed by thick lashes, her flawless skin a shade darker than my own despite the fact that it was the middle of January. But the best part by far was her smile. Having been all around the UK and even other parts of Europe, I've seen loads of beautiful girls, but now it seemed silly to compare them to Melissa's radiant beauty. When she smiled, it lit up her entire face and she glowed. I quickly learned that it was contagious.

When we first met at Lukas's party 2 days ago, she was being dragged around by a very buzzed Melanie, her own cheeks pink from her consumption but then I saw her smile and I could help but stare. Lukas suggested that I introduce myself. I remember trying so hard to catch her attention without actually going up to her, but she just wouldn't look over at me. Harry eventually brought her over to the back of the house and she sat next to me. It started with a simple 'hello' and ended up turning into so much more. She was obviously the type who sprouted confidence with alcohol. So was I. That landed us in a bed together.  
>The next day, she was absolutely mortified at her actions. Not knowing her well enough, I stayed quiet for the most part not wanting her to think I was insensitive or something, but that didn't last very long. She made me feel like I had nothing to worry about and those things happen. She was very mature about the whole thing and seemed content with putting it behind her and talking to me normally. I could tell she had never been put in a situation like that, and neither have I. I felt happy at the thought that Melissa had taken an interest in me, and I had to admit, I liked her more than I should.<p>

I yawned widely and turned over in the bed facing Liam. His eyes cracked open revealing that he was still very much wide awake.

"Can't sleep?" He whispered. I shook my head.

"Something on your mind you want to talk about?" He offered.

"I just can't get her out of my mind," I confessed with a grin.

"So do you like her, then?"

"Yeah, I think I do. But I don't know what to do. Like, we're leaving on Sunday. There's no point, is there?"

Though Zayn was the one to go to when we needed advice about girls, Liam was the one I would go to when I needed logical advice. Though I was sure I'd speak to Zayn too eventually.

"Well it's not exactly smart to tell her you like her and then leave. I know that _I've _only known them for 2 days and I'm going to miss hanging out with them when we leave. I already exchanged Skype with both of them and I told them I'd love to keep in touch. What I'm saying is better to have her even as a friend than not at all. She actually mentioned something earlier about wanting to move to London to study Marine Biology, so maybe something could happen a few years down the road,"

I nodded, taking in the information he gave me. A few years… that was disappointing, but like Liam mentioned, I'd much rather have her as a friend than nothing at all.

"Yeah, I think I'll keep in touch with her. Both of them. Thanks Liam," I said whispered.

We both turned over and moments later and this time, sleep swept over me.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_**A/N; **__**I'm sorry it took so long to update! My mommy took my laptop away when she caught me writing chapter 5 at 1 in the morning when I had school that day. :/ So I pulled out an old notebook and wrote like crazy! My chapters are beginning to get longer! Let me know if you'd rather I post shorter, more frequent chapters? And I tried a Niall POV and to be honest, I'm not that satisfied with it, but it turned out ok. **_

_**Leave a review! I already have a bigger idea of how this story is going to go, but I'd love to hear any suggestions!  
>Thanks to all those who put this in their alerts (:<strong>_

_**~GML**_


	6. Chapter 6

Forever Young Chapter 6 (12/01/12)

"Melissa," Melanie said tiredly, her voice muffled by the blanket covering her face, "Go close the curtain,"

Both of us had forgotten to close the curtain last night and so now the sun shone brightly into the room. Wait a minute… the sun? I rolled over and peered at the large window on Melanie's side of the room. I slowly peeled the blankets away from my body and rolled out of the bed. I stretched, making an odd sound as my joints popped and I walked over to the window and peered outside. Saying we had a lot of snow yesterday was nothing compared to the amount we have today. The barn door was barely visible with the snow that the wind pushed up against it. And for the first time in a long time, the sun was shining, reflecting off the freshly fallen snow. It was beautiful outside.

I glanced at the clock on the wall.

"Come on, Mel, its 2 in the afternoon. We've been asleep for 10 hours,"

"Go away," She said, rolling and spreading across the entire bed.

I padded out of the room and peered into Lukas's room for a sign of the boys. It was empty, but messy as ever. I walked in and with slight difficulties I refolded the bed into the couch and replaced the cushions. I gathered all the duvets and blankets and folded them, placing them neatly in the corner of the room. I then made Lukas's bed and picked up all the food wrappers and tossing them in his trash can.  
>It wasn't unusual for me to clean his room. I did it all the time out of habit. I was always the one who ended up cleaning out the apartment we shared with Melanie. After I folded the clothing on his desk, I put them in their proper drawers and left the room. It took me a good half an hour and by the time I made it down into the kitchen, Melanie was already there, still in the sweatpants she slept in, sipping her coffee.<p>

"Your cup is on the counter," She said, flipping the page of the newspaper.

"Thanks," I said. I took out a bottle of rich cream and prepared my coffee to my liking.

"Where is everyone?" I asked, suddenly noticing how quiet the entire house is.

I sat next to her at the table.

"There's a note over on the table from Diane and Hector that they're gone for the afternoon, but that they'll be back in time to make supper. Caleb won't be home for the rest of the holidays and I have no clue where the boys ar-"

Something 'thunked' on the patio door next to the table and I turned to see a snowball sliding slowly down the glass door.

"I think they're outside. Just a guess though," I laughed, turning back to my coffee.

Over the next ten minutes, snowballs were repeatedly pelted at the door and I could see the boys hiding behind a wall of snow, most likely giggling.

"Do you want some eggs and bacon?" I asked when I finished my coffee. I got up from the table and dug in the fridge.

"Yeah, sure. Oh, look,"

I pulled my head out of the fridge and looked over the door. Harry and Louis had their faces pressed against the glass and Louis appeared to be sucking it, swirling his tongue around.

"That's gross," I said calmly.

As I cooked, the stove was across the patio door, so I watched as the 6 boys attempted to build a snowman.

"It looks nothing like a snowman," She commented, getting out of her seat to rinse her coffee mug.

"Oh well, let them have their fun. The longer they stay out, the better," I joked.

I was halfway through frying some eggs when I remembered something.

"Hey, Mel, can I ask you something?" I said, looking up.

"You just did," She replied with a grin.

"Something else," God, we were so alike.

"Yeah, go for it," She said, hopping up on the counter.

"Do you like Zayn," I asked casually, flipping the eggs.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" She replied, picking at her nails.

"You know what I mean," I deadpanned, pulling 2 plates from the cupboard.

She looked up at me and grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, actually, I kind of do,"

"No surprise there," I laughed. Zayn would be pleased at the news.

"Is it that obvious?" She asked with a worried frown.

"Not at all. I just know you too well," I assured her. She looked towards the boys who were shoveling snow on each other's head and she smiled.

"I don't know, he's just really nice and funny," she said.

"Are you going to tell him?" I asked casually.

"Nah, I'm too chicken," She chuckled.

I turned back to the eggs and flipped them onto the plates. Grabbing the salt and pepper, we sat at the table. I knew her well, and she knew me just as well.

"There's something you're not telling me," She accused, poking at her eggs.

"Nope, nothing at all," I replied happily.

In the other room, I could hear the side door being opened and I listened as the boys roughly shoved each other into the house, eager to get out of their cold and wet snow suits. Melanie stared at me, waiting.

"I'll tell you later, promise," I said as one of the boys, Louis most likely, shouted loudly and the others laughed loudly.

A few minutes later, they all walked through the hall and into the kitchen, gloves, jacket, hats, scarves and snow pants in hand, and shoved them into the dryer next to the pantry.

"Good afternoon, ladies," Harry said exaggeratedly, coming behind me and placing a cold hand on my bare neck.

"Go away!" I laughed, shoving him. He giggled and skipped back down the hall.

"Slept in late, did we?" Liam said, taking a seat at the table between Melanie and I.

"What time were you guys up at?" Melanie asked, chewing on a strip of bacon lazily.

Lukas walked by and ruffled my hair affectionately and took an empty seat.

"Liam wanted to go play in the snow, so he woke us all around 9," Niall answered, his accent strong as he filled the seat next to me. I turned and smiled at him. His hair was standing on its ends, most likely from the hat he was wearing, and his cheeks and nose were red from the chilly air outdoors. He looked really cute. He grinned and his eyes flickered down to my lips, much like they had last night. I turned away shyly and he chuckled. He threw an arm around my shoulder casually and pulled me closer to him while he twirled one of my loose strands around his finger.

"I've never seen so much snow in my life," Liam replied happily.

Louis proceeded to tell Melanie and I of everything they did outside, from the snow fort they attempted to build (until Zayn fell on it) to the snowball fight and the lumpy snowman outside the patio door while Niall played with my hand under the table. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Harry come back up the hall and enter the kitchen, but I paid little attention to him for Lukas was dangerously eyeing the rest of my bacon.  
>Suddenly, something cold and wet slipped down my back and I leaped out of my chair with a yelp. I shook at the back of my top vigorously until several clumps of snow landed on the floor with a 'splat'. I looked down at it and up at Harry who stood a few feet away howling with laughter.<p>

"Harry Styles, you're awful!" I said, swatting his arm and walking over to the counter and grabbing the roll of paper towel. I crouched on the floor while everyone laughed and I scooped up the snow and wiped away the water before tossing it in the trash can. Then, I marched up to him and he flinched.

"I'm not going to hit you!" I scoffed playfully, "But I will get you back. Just wait. This means war, Styles,"

I flashed him one more smile and returned to my seat only to discover that my bacon was gone. With a sigh, I glanced at Lukas.

"Louis did it," He said, holding his hands up. I glanced at Louis who smiled widely at me, waggling his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes and picked up my plate and putting it in the sink.

"Shame on you, Louis," I said with a grin.

While the others discussed possible activities for the rest of the afternoon, I began the dishes. This time, it was Niall who came to help me. The others continued their conversation.

"So, you mentioned something about Marine Biology yesterday?" He asked casually, drying a pan.

"Yeah, I didn't think you heard. I have a few things in mind but Marine Biology is one of the more desirable options. I don't know, just the idea of working with different marine species is really fascinating. There is another one though, but I'm not sure about it," I blabbed.

"What's the other one?" Niall asked.

"It's nothing," I insisted, hopping up on the counter when I finished washing the last plate. He nodded in understanding. I felt silly for not wanting to tell him that what I really wanted to study music, but in comparison to his skills, he was so much better. Plus, it wasn't exactly something I wanted to share with him just yet.

"So where were you going to study?" He asked, hanging up the damp dish towel. He leaned against the counter next to me so that our shoulders were touching.

"I was actually thinking of moving to London soon," I told him. "I've always found British people fascinating," I added with a grin.

"It's the accents, isn't it?" He teased, bumping his shoulder in to mine softly.

"No," I laughed. "Maybe… Ok, a little, but it's not just that!"

"You know there's a word for someone like that," He teased.

"Anglophile, I know. Melanie likes to call me an anglophiliac too," I laughed. I clapped my hands over my mouth after realizing what I just said.

"What's an… anglophiliac?" Niall asked, confused.

Melanie, having tuned in on that last part suddenly burst out laughing causing everyone to turn and look at Niall and me.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked.

"Melissa was just talking about how I like to call her an anglophiliac," She said gleefully.

"What's an anglophiliac?" Liam asked, looking around.

"Hold on, I've got it here," said Zayn as he scrolled though his phone. "Nothing good ever comes from the Urban Dictionary," he added.

"No! Don't read it!" I pleaded. I watched his eyes scan the screen with a frown, and then he looked up at me and burst out laughing. I could feel my face heating up has he showed Louis and Harry who went around the table to look at the phone.

Louis was speechless and Harry's eyebrows shot up past his hairline.

"What the hell?" He said, glancing up at me. Then he too burst out laughing.

"I want to know too!" Liam said.

All three boys were laughing too hard to explain and so Lukas, already knowing what it was, said it out loud.

"It's something like the desire to have sex with a British man or something like that because of their accent," He said with a smirk.

I've been betrayed by my two best friends! I hid my face in my hands. I don't think I've ever been so embarrassed in my life. It wasn't my fault! They were just so much more attractive! Then Niall said something to me, but loud enough for only me to hear.

"It's a good thing I can to a British accent, huh?"

0o0o0o0o0

After the endless teasing of my so called 'desire to have sex with British men for their accent' blew over, we were once again in front of the television in the living room. Harry insisted on some dancing game for the Wii and I found it odd that Lukas had it.

"My little cousin left it here!" He insisted.

I didn't play at first because quite frankly, I couldn't dance. But Harry managed to convince me to play, which turned out with me having thousands of points more than him. "I'm just lucky!" was what I told the others after I beat Harry.

"That was actually really good," Liam said approvingly.

I disagreed. I really hated dancing like that. I mean, a slow dance was fine, anyone could do that, but I just felt so awkward dancing to faster music. I suppose if I had a couple drinks in me I wouldn't have much of a problem. In fact, I've seen some videos that people have recorded at parties and they left me wondering how I had learned to move like that. But I decided not to ponder on that. When Melanie had gone up against Liam, I nodded at Zayn towards the kitchen. He frowned but followed me through the hall anyways. I leaned casually against the wall and looked up at him.

"So, last night, I was talking with Niall- don't look at me like that, we were _talking, _ok, we weren't just talking, but still_- _and he mentioned something about you being _interested_ in Melanie," I said, finger quoting the 'interested'. He glanced behind him, most likely making sure Melanie wasn't around, and turned back to me.

"Did you talk to her?" he asked. I had almost expected him to be embarrassed about the situation, or even try and deny it but he seemed confident enough.

"I did," I answered, "And she mentioned that she likes you," I said.

Zayn glanced behind me towards the living room where the others can be heard and bit back a smile.

"She really said that?"

I confirmed this with a nod. Then he suddenly frowned, and I was sure I knew why.

"Hadn't expected you'd get this far, would you?" I asked with a nudge and he shook his head.

"I don't know if there's any point in telling her," he said, frowning.

"Sadly, I know exactly what you mean," I murmured.

0o0o0o0o0

_**A/N: **__**Hey! Here's another update! I'd love to see more reviews from you guys! Please make an effort! I'm having issues with this part and on, so I'm going to cut it off here and post what I have. This chapter is more of a filler than anything. I'll try and update soon! I'd also love to hear some suggestions? (:  
>Review!<br>~GML**_


	7. Chapter 7

Forever Young Chapter 7

Zayn and I didn't talk for long at all. I could tell that this bothered him as much as it was bothering me. Instead, he helped me and we prepared 8 cups of hot cocoa. Harry was the first to wander into the kitchen and attempted to claim every single mug, but I fought him off with my mad skills. The others came in as I was pouring the last mug and they took a seat at the table while Niall took a seat next to me at the breakfast bar a few feet away from the table. Louis and I got into a playful argument about which vegetable was the best (mine being broccoli) when Harry randomly started humming a song. It was one I recognized well; One Thing. Melanie had played that song over and over again and when the music video came out she was so excited to watch it she nearly sprained her ankle on the way home from our last course.  
>Liam started up a beat on the table with his hands and soon enough, the boys all jumped in and started singing. I had to admit, I was really impressed. They sang so effortlessly. And though each one of them had amazing voices, I turned my attention to Niall on my right and smiled at him.<p>

"It seems as though it's been forever since we sang!" Harry commented as they finished. The boys agreed.

"Lukas, have you got a guitar?" Niall asked.

"No, but Melissa has like 5. Did you bring any from the apartment?" He asked, referring to the large apartment Lukas, Melanie and I all shared in the city.

"No, but Michael has one. I can go fetch it," I said.

"You play the guitar?" Louis asked.

"I do," I replied, "and I play the triangle. Better than Zayn."

"You've got nerve, woman!" Zayn exclaimed. "No one plays better than me,"

"So that means you've seen our video diaries?" Liam asked with an amused grin.

"I have, because of that one over there," I said, lazily pointing my foot at Melanie.

"Whatever. You were the one replaying Niall's laugh _over and over_ again," She replied smugly. Betrayed again!

"It was funny!" I said defensively and Niall laughed. "So do you want me to go get the guitar?"

"If it's not too much trouble," Liam said.

"Not at all! Melanie, are you coming?" I asked, standing up and placing my empty mug in the sink.

"I want to come!" Harry said, leaping out of his chair. "You promised I could see your cat,"

With a laugh, I told Harry he could come.

"I want to come too" Louis whined.

"Anyone else?" I asked, combing a hand though my hair.

"I'll come," Niall answered.

Liam, Zayn and Melanie decided to stay simply because there wasn't enough room in my car. I slipped on my black cordones from Toms and pulled my jacket out of the closet at the front door. We made our way to my car and I quickly brushed off the top and scraped the windows and windshield while Harry and Louis fought over shotgun. Harry won.

"So, how far do you live?" Louis asked from the back.

"About 7 minutes," I replied.

Harry reached over and cranked the volume while the song Stereo Heart played and they all sang along. I smiled at them, watching Niall and Louis in my review mirror. They were just so easy to like and get along with.

We arrived at my house and I hollered a 'hello' to my brother when I walked in the door. Michael appeared down the stairs a minute later and I introduced the 3 boys to him.

"Nice to meet you," He said as he shook their hands firmly. "You must be those guys she never stops talking about. Her walls are covered with your faces," He said seriously.

"Mike!" I said, smacking his arm.

"I thought you said you weren't a fan," Harry accused with a grin.

"I'm not! Michael likes to lie," I said, petting my dogs as they came running in the entrance excitedly.

"Where's your cat?" Harry asked after I briefly showed them the living room, kitchen, one of the bathrooms and the dining area.

"I think she's in my room. Wait here and I'll go get her," I instructed, going up the stairs. Of course they didn't listen and Harry eagerly followed me to my room. With a roll of my eyes, I stepped onto the soft white carpet in my room and flicked the light on. Harry's eyes darted to all 4 walls in my room, obviously checking for posters and pictures.

"I told you he was lying," I laughed as Louis and Niall sauntered into my room.

I scooped up my cat that was lying on my bed and handed her to Harry.

"Her name is Cookie," I said.

"She's really pretty," Harry cooed and I exchanged a look with Niall and laughed.

"I just need to check some emails for a few minutes, if you don't mind. Don't be shy, there's food in the fridge," I told Niall with a teasing grin.

"Your room is very… neat," Louis commented, sitting on my bed.

"Which is rare, only because I have an apartment now," I said, pulling the chair out and sitting on my desk.

I turned my computer and jiggled the mouse, waiting for the screen to light up. Niall and Harry went to explore my house while Louis stayed and we had a small conversation.

"You like reading," He said, observing the tall book case on the opposite side of my blue room.

"I do," I confirmed. I saw him go up to a painting on my wall and observe it closely.

"Your name is on this! Did you paint it?" He asked, pointing to my signature on the bottom left corner of a painting.

"Yeah, but that's an old one. That one is more recent," I said, pointing at a black and white painting of New York City above my desk.

"That's amazing!" He exclaimed. "I had no idea you were an artist!"

"I do a few things here and there," I said, logging into my Hotmail.

"Do you sell them?" He asked.

"No. I'm not that serious about the whole thing. It's just something I do on my spare time," I answered.

"When I get my own place, I'm going to buy one from you," He said, pulling his phone out. "Do you mind if I post a picture of the painting on twitter?"

"Not at all," I replied, moving out of the way while he snapped it.

I finished a few minutes later and closed my computer. Louis followed me across the hall to Michael's room which was much messier than mine and I took his guitar off the stand and hauled a guitar case out of the closet. After I snapped the latches in place, Louis offered to carry the guitar downstairs. It was odd to see Louis acting so calmly without the boys.

"Where did Niall and Harry go?" I asked, placing the guitar down at the front door.

"I think they're with your brother," Louis answered.

I padded down the hall and came into the kitchen. Off towards the back of the house I could hear a piano. I found Harry, Niall and Mike fooling around on the piano.

"You never told us you played piano!" Harry said, flipping through a grey folder. "Did you write this?" He asked, pulling out several of my unfinished worksheets covered in side notes.

I reached out and snatched the folder from Harry and shot a look at Michael. He knew I didn't let anyone see my work.

"Yes, and I'd appreciate it if you asked next time," I said, suddenly not impressed with them.

"Oh, we're sorry. We didn't think you would mind," Niall apologized, looking up at me with worried eyes. I sighed.

"Don't worry about it. Just… just ask next time," I said. I shot another glance at a guilty Michael and sauntered into the kitchen. None of them followed me. I took my folder back up to my room and as I was tucking it in my school bag to take back to my apartment, my phone rang. I checked the caller ID and answered immediately.

"Hey Laura,"

"Hey Mel, how's it going?" she asked and I could hear Alexis, her younger sister, in the background.

"Good," I answered.

"Liar," She replied. "Melanie told me about your little situation with that Irish guy,"

"What situation? It's nothing. Just me being silly, really," I insisted.

"Are you sure?" She persisted.

"I'm sure. It's absolutely nothing," I reassured her.

"Alright, but lemme know if you want to talk about it. Otherwise, what's new?"

I filled her in briefly while I made my way back to the boys. I leaned against the door frame and watched Harry play the glossy piano. Niall met my eyes and offered an apologetic look and I waved him off, assuring him that it's past.

"-and I fell like, in the first hour and after that… I'm telling you Mel, I'm a pro now," Laura said.

"What a surprise, seeing as you're the clumsiest person I know," I laughed.

My phone beeped and I pulled it away and checked who was calling.

"Hey, Laura, Melanie's on the other line. I'll call you back later tonight, m'kay?"

"Alright, love you," She replied and I answered the other line.

"What are you guys doing over there?" Melanie asked.

"Well, they're just playing on the piano now. We're coming in a few," I told her.

After hanging up, I told the boys that we were going to leave in a few minutes.

"Mom called," Michael told me in the kitchen, "I told her you were at Luke's with Melanie,"

"Alright, I'll call her later," I answered.

"Hey, I'm sorry about earlier, with your music and stuff," He said.

"It's fine," I replied, reaching up to ruffle his messy brown hair.

"So how long are you planning to stay at Luke's?" He asked, sitting on the counter, something our mother always told us not to do.

"I think I'm going to come home tonight. Melanie is coming over too. And I should be more or less home for the rest of the holidays. When are you driving back to the city? Didn't your roommate ask you to take care of his snake while he was away?"

"I got someone else to do it for $30," He told me with a laugh.

Michael and I lived about 20 minutes away from each other. He had gotten an apartment with some of his friends while he went to University.

"Alright, well Nick should be coming around any minute so we'll catch up later kiddo,"

About 5 minutes later, we piled back into my car and like earlier, Louis, Harry and Niall sang loudly. When we reached the house, Niall wasted no time getting the guitar out and we all settled down in Lukas' room. I curled up on the couch, my feet in Melanie's lap and closed my eyes tiredly and listened to the boys sing. I must have been really tired because when I opened my eyes, the sky outside was dark.

"Come on, supper is ready," Melanie said, nudging me gently. "You've been asleep for a bit over an hour now,"

I followed her downstairs where I could hear many people and we entered the kitchen where everyone was settling down at the table.

"Aw, Diane, this looks amazing," I said as I took a seat next to Lukas.

"Thank you, Melissa! Believe it or not, the boys helped out," She chuckled.

"Look Louis, carrots!" I said, passing the bowl to him on my left and everyone laughed.

0o0o0o0o0

We had a very relaxing dinner, despite the fact that we were 10 sitting around a table for 6. Diane and Hector spoke a lot with Zayn, asking him about the new things he was experiencing. He and the boys answered enthusiastically, saying it was an amazing thing to experience. Hector announced that he planned a family trip to go spend a day tubing down the snow-covered mountains and that the rest of their cousins would be meeting them there. He offered for the rest of us to come but Liam politely declined, saying that Zayn should spend time with his family. And so after dinner, Melanie made plans with Louis, Liam, Harry and Niall.

"We're going to go shopping downtown," She told me.

"Is that wise?" I asked, picking up the blanket and curling up on the couch in Lukas' room again.

"What do you mean?" She questioned.

"I don't know. People might find out where they're staying and such," I shrugged.

"Ahh, it's not the end of the world," Niall threw in, sitting on the arm of the couch and throwing an arm around my shoulder. Melanie gave me a knowing look when I bit back a grin. His touch felt hot on my skin.

Then Melanie looked at me with a wide smile on her face.

"You're the only one here who can drive," She said, in other words, asking me to drive.

"I suppose. But I don't have enough room in my car. I could steal Michael's though," I said.

"Well, I know Nick wants to go get some new shoes, so if we invite Mike and Nick along, we can split in two cars," She suggested. I nodded.

"I'll text them," She told me, sitting next to me and crossing her legs.

It wasn't long to plan the trip and it seemed as only minutes later, Melanie and I were zipping up our coats and heading out the door.

"We'll pick you up tomorrow around 10, so be ready," I told the boys as I headed out the door. They chorused in a 'bye' and Melanie and I drove home.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

My alarm went off at 8 and I grudgingly rolled out of bed. Melanie and I had stayed up way past 2am on Skype with Laura and I regretted it. I dug though my drawers tiredly and half of my clothing ended up on the floor in the process. I left the room 5 minutes later with a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and white tank top in hand. After spending too much time in the shower, I dressed and padded back to my room to wake Melanie before pulling out my hair dryer. I topped my boring outfit off with an equally boring beige cardigan and a pair of mismatched socks, not bothering with accessories. As Melanie went in the shower, I half-dried my hair and threw the rest in a messy bun, not caring what it looked like. I woke Michael at 9 and after Melanie had stolen some of my clothing, she joined me in the kitchen as I ate a bowl of cereal. At quarter to 10, I pocketed my phone, threw my black cordones on, wrapped a scarf around me, put my jacket on and grabbed a pair of mittens and Melanie and I drove to pick up the boys, Michael close behind me. He turned off to go pick Nick up and I stopped at the store to fill up on gas while Melanie bought us each a coffee.

We pulled up in Lukas's driveway at the same time that Zayn, Lukas and his parents were packing the car. I waved goodbye to them and waited for the boys to come out. They emerged later, dressed warmly and Melanie immediately went with Mike and Nick, claiming she wanted to sleep a little longer, and she let the 4 boys pile into my car. Harry, once again, claimed shotgun while the boys sat comfortably in the back. I mumbled a 'hello' and sipped tiredly on my coffee, following behind Mike as he pulled onto the small road. The boys were equally as tired and Harry attempted to steal my drink.

"I don't think that's very wise Harry," Liam yawned.

"No, it's fine. Go ahead. Just don't drink it all," I told him, passing the steaming cup.

"You're the best," He murmured, ruffling my hair.

The boys were surprisingly quiet, whether they were as tired as Melanie and I or just the lack of a band member upset them. Harry turned the radio on, kicked his shoes off and placed his feet on the dash, humming lightly.

"You don't mind, do you?" He asked a moment later, referring to his feet.

"Go for it, bud," I replied tiredly.

"You seem really tired. Like, _really_ tired. What time did you get to bed at?" Liam asked.

"I don't know. Somewhere between 2 and 3am," I admitted sheepishly.

"So that's like what, 5 hours of sleep?" Louis asked, placing his feet between the front seats on the storage compartment.

"Pretty much. I'm a mess when I don't get enough sleep… Louis, I'm going to murder you if your feet smell bad," I threatened half-heartedly. Thankfully, they didn't.

"Doesn't matter, you still look beautiful," Niall said.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

Louis immediately mocked Niall and I felt a blush creep to my cheeks. Harry looked at me and grinned, nudging me teasingly, but otherwise, he didn't say anything. Louis and Niall began wrestling in the back while Liam cheered them on. I shook my head at them disapprovingly and laughed. I took my coffee from Harry's hands and took drink.

"You've got Harry germs now," Harry said happily.

"You're really creepy Harry," I said, taking another sip.

The boys settled down after 20 minutes and we finally reached the highway. I sped up and passed Michael's car and Louis made rude gestures to Melanie who was spread out lazily in the back seat. She flipped him off- Louis gasped exaggeratedly- and she something to Mike and he sped up.

"Are we going to race them?" Liam asked excitedly.

"No," I replied at the same time that Harry said 'yes'.

I felt my pocket vibrate and I sighed. It was most likely from Mike, challenging me to a race; something that we did every once and a while. But with the weather conditions the past few days, it wasn't something I wanted to risk. I lifted my hips and fished my phone out of my pocket and read the text from Mike.

_$250 to the winner who passes the factory first?_

Damn. We've never bet that high before.

"What does it say?" Niall asked, leaning over Louis legs.

"Nothing," I replied. As I went to pocket my phone, Niall snatched it from my hands.

"Niall!" I said. I couldn't exactly turn around and get it back.

"What does it say?" Harry asked, grinning wildly.

"Her brother wants to race to some factory up the highway I'm guessing. Winner gets $250," Niall said.

"Let's do it," Liam said with a grin.

"I can't! The wea-"

"Don't even tell me the weather is bad! The roads have been dry all morning and the sun is out," Liam laughed.

"Guys, it's dangerous," I said weakly. Truthfully, I wanted to.

"I already told your brother you'd do it," Niall said after a moment of silence.

"Dammit Niall! If I lose, I owe him $250!" I said, stepping on the gas, surprising the boys.

"Holy shit!" Harry yelped as I wove through the cars. He took his feet off the dashboard and held onto his seatbelt.

Racing was something Michael had pulled me into when I first started driving. He and his friends did it for fun on some of the small back roads near our house and sometimes I'd join them. I didn't do it often though. It was something about driving fast that drove a thrill through me.

It was close, but I lost. I groaned in frustration and slowed down considerably. The boys were all astonished.

"Holy shit," Harry repeated looking at me. "Where did you learn to drive like that?"

"That was hot," Niall said with a tone of surprise.

0o0o0o0o0

It took forever to find decent parking downtown and then we met up with Melanie, Nicolas and Michael.

"I'll have to go to the bank for the $250," I told Mike sourly.

"That was pretty close though," Nick said, throwing an arm around my shoulder. Niall eyed his arm but looked away when I glanced at him.

We walked around the downtown area, stopping at every other store. No one seemed to recognize the boys. I suppose it was normal; they weren't that well known in Canada. I walked mostly with Nicolas in the front and we joked around, but I could feel Niall watching us closely. Nicolas and I weren't exactly close friends but we were friends and nothing more. I mean, I've known him since I was 11. I could see Niall whispering with Harry when we entered Starbucks and the pair of them kept glancing at us.

"Is he the one Melanie mentioned?" Nick asked as we stepped back out into the crispy cold air.

"Yeah," I said, hugging my coffee close to my chest.

"I think he likes you. He's been staring at us since we got here," he said casually.

I scoffed. "That's a load of bull. He's from the UK, like, across the ocean and stuff," I told him.

"Doesn't mean he can't like you. I'm just telling you what I see," He chuckled. Niall finally made his way over to me.

"Pretty cold weather, huh?" He said, looking at me. Nicolas gave me a knowing look, made an excuse about wanting a cookie and returned into the coffee shop, leaving me with Niall.

"There's been worse though," I answered with a small smile. He smiled back.

"Oh, you've got something in your braces!" I told him. Horrified, he clasped a hand over his mouth.

"Wow, that's embarrassing. Mind holding this for a second?" He asked, handing me his cup. I took the coffee from his hands, our fingers brushing momentarily, and he pulled out his phone, checking his teeth in the reflection.

"Is it gone?" He asked, showing me his teeth.

"I think so," I replied, handing his cup back to him.

"It was worse when I first got them. I was spitting on everyone. It was gross," He told me as we walked slowly down the street behind the others. Melanie could be seen walking arm-in-arm with Zayn.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked, looking at him.

"You just did… I'm kidding. Yeah, go for it," he laughed.

"Did you get braces because the dentist said to, or because of what people said?" I asked. He pursed his lips and shoved his free hand in the pocket of his beige pants.

"I don't know. It bugged me- the things that people used to say," He said.

"Niall, you shouldn't listen to them," I said sympathetically. "Everyone has flaws, and anyone you have to change yourself for isn't worth even a second of your time,"

He looked at me and my chest tightened. Yet another feeling I wasn't accustomed to.

"That's actually the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me," He admitted with a shy grin.

"I mean every word of it," I told him.

I moved closer to him on the side walk to avoid colliding with a baby carriage and he moved quickly, boldly sliding his hand into mine. I felt a burst of happiness and wove my fingers through his, marveling at their softness. I saw Nicolas glance back at us and he grinned knowingly at the sight of out intertwined fingers.

0o0o0o0o0

_**A/N: **__**Here's another chapter. I have a feeling I'm writing this ALL wrong :/ Its moving on too quickly and I'm taking forever. Like, they're only on their third or fourth day of knowing each other and I have 7 chapters…  
>My story confuses me.<br>But I'd love to see some reviews! It would be awesome!  
>I update faster when I have MOTIVATION!<br>~GML**_


	8. Chapter 8

Forever Young Chapter 8

When I mentioned that I wanted to pick up some new books, Niall offered to accompany me, so we walked further down the crowded street towards the bookstore. Niall stayed close while I browsed the shelves.

"Do you want to go see a movie later? There's this new scary one that came out on Friday and Harry wanted to see it," Niall said, looking up from his phone.

"Sounds good to me," I replied with a smile.

Niall texted Harry who answered back a few minutes later saying Melanie was going to check on which movie theater were showing the movie.

As I was paying for the 3 books I had chosen, the cashier's eyes landed on Niall a few feet away and she promptly dropped the book she was holding and she gasped loudly. Niall turned at the sound of the hard cover book falling on the ground and walked over to me. Meanwhile, the cashier, a larger girl around my age with a beautiful face gaped openly at Niall.

"Is everything alright?" he asked me, sliding an arm around my waist. The cashier looked at me widely, surprised that I apparently knew Niall.

"I think she's a fan," I murmured awkwardly.

As Niall turned to face her in surprise, dropping his arm from my waist and she immediately rambled on about being a huge fan, but mostly she was surprised that Niall was in Canada.

"I'm visiting a friend," He told her, glancing at me. She obviously mistook his look and she gawked at me.

"Are you two dating?" She asked excitedly.

Her question obviously took both of us by surprise and I laughed.

"No, we're just friends," I reassured her biting back a grin.

I watched as Niall politely answered the few questions she had and signed a slip of paper for her. I offered to take a picture and she thanked me repeatedly. The line to purchase had gained a few people and she reluctantly scanned my books and I paid. She waved goodbye to Niall when we exited the store.

"That was really nice of you," I smiled, reaching out to take his hand in my own. He glanced down at our hands and grinned widely; it was the first time I had made the first move to hold hands. I was feeling much more comfortable around Niall.

"The fans are the reason the guys and I are where we are. We owe them everything," Niall answered, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

I sat between Niall and Harry in the squashy theater chairs, a bucket of popcorn in my lap. Louis and Liam, sitting a few seats down to my right engaged in a popcorn fight while the theater filled up. A large group of giggly girls sat in the row behind us, talking loudly. They looked 15, maybe 16. Harry glanced back and turned back to the front, uninterested in any of them and the girls simultaneously burst into fits of giggles, whispering loudly about the 'hot guy with the curly hair'.

"Imagine if they knew you were famous," I joked.

The light dimmed and the previews played followed by the movie. I sat back in the chair and took a hand full of popcorn, munching quietly on it. The movie was definitely scary, but the girls behind us were ruining it by talking loudly. One kept kicking the back of my seat restlessly and I was beginning to get annoyed. I wasn't the only one. Harry jiggled his leg impatiently and Niall kept glancing back, hinting them to be quiet. Instead, they giggled loudly each time he turned around. When I was finally fed up, I spun around.

"Excuse me, can you stop talking, please?" I whispered politely.

They stopped talking but one girl gave me a look loaded with attitude. I said nothing and turned back to the movie. Not even a minute later, they started talking again. Someone in the row behind them whispered rudely, telling them to be quiet. One girl scoffed and muttered 'whatever' completely ignoring the man. She went back to talking with her friends. I spun around angrily.

"Look, I don't know who you think you are, but you don't own the place. I came here to watch a movie, not listen to you giggle the whole movie, so either _shut the hell_ up and watch the movie or _leave_," I snapped.

I sat back in my seat, fuming. I could hear Melanie and Louis a few seats down, snickering loudly. Harry shot me an impressed look.

"You're pretty hot when you're mad," Niall whispered close to my ear. A shiver ran down my spine and I turned to meet his eyes. My stomach flip flopped at the closeness of our faces and turned my head shyly.

It was small things he said here and there that was cute, like what he said this morning about me being beautiful even when I was exhausted, or when he commented on a top I tried earlier, saying it brought out my eyes. It was different having someone tell me these kinds of things randomly throughout the day. It was nice. It felt good.  
>What I didn't particularly like was that each time he said or did something cute, or every time he took my hand or even looked at me, my jumbled feelings towards him increased. And at this rate, nothing good could possibly come from all of this.<br>I didn't want him to leave on Sunday. It was awful enough thinking about it. I didn't want to feel it.

I reached out for his hand again, intertwining my fingers with his, dreading the moment when he'd leave.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The movie ended at 10:45pm and as we were exiting the theater, Michael, Nicolas, Liam and Niall decided that they were hungry, and so we spent nearly 20 minutes driving around looking for a restaurant open this late. We found a small restaurant open and argued on whether eating there or on the way home. A few minutes later, we were seated at a large round table. I wasn't hungry but Niall insisted that I eat and so we shared a basket of cheese stuffed bread sticks while he ordered an entire plate of spaghetti. We were talking about the boys' past tour experience when Liam suddenly froze mid-sentence.

"I forgot the key," he said in horror.

"Mate, I have no idea what you're talking about," Louis said, reaching over to steal the breadstick I had in my hand. I protested loudly.

"I forgot Lukas' house key in the house. We can't get in," Liam said, worry written all over his face.

"LIAM!" the boys groaned.

"Just stay at our house tonight. Nick and Melanie were going to sleep over anyways," Michael said, setting his fork down.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked. Everyone turned to look at me.

"Erm... I suppose you could as long as we don't make a mess. Our parents are coming home tomorrow afternoon," I explained.

"We'll be on our best behavior," Louis smirked, glancing over at Harry.  
>I snorted loudly.<p>

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_**A/N:**__** Sorry guys, this chapter is really short, but I figured since I havent posted in a few days, I'd post a short one here and most likely another tomorrow. I've been working on the earlier chapters, so if you want to take a look at them, I've made quite a few changes and even threw in some other information. Take a look! And thanks LOADS to those who take the time to review! You guys are amazing!  
>Leave a review and I upload faster!<strong>_

_**~GiveMeLovee**_


	9. Chapter 9

Forever Young Chapter 9

As we exited the restaurant Liam followed Melanie to Mike's car while telling her a story. Niall, who had hooked his index finger with mine on the way out of the restaurant steered me towards the back of the parking towards my car, Harry and Louis close behind. I fumbled with the car keys, eager to start the car and turn the heat on full blast.

"Niall, you can have the passenger seat. I'm going to cuddle with Louis," Harry said, waggling his eyebrows. Louis pinched him in the bum.

The car soon heated up and Harry and Louis settled down in the back seat, talking about the hot waitress in the restaurant. Niall, being extremely easy to talk to, struck up a conversation and we asked each other questions back and forth while the music played softly. For the next 10 minutes, I found out that his favorite color was green and that his least favorite was purple. He told me that he'd like to let his natural hair color grow out, he told me he was left handed and that he could be really emotional during movies. In return, I told him that my favorite color was blue, and that I hated pink, I told him that I would never drink tea and that I was able to play more instruments than I could count on one hand. After a pause he turned to me.

"Why won't you play the piano in front of us?" He suddenly asked. "Your brother said you're really good,"

I avoided his gaze and tapped my thumbs on the steering wheel. He waited patiently for me to answer.

I never really felt comfortable talking about this to others. I wasn't sure I wanted to tell Niall either. Not everyone understands. It's hard. Every time I stroke a key, I'm surrounded by memories. I hate it, yet crave it at the same time. It's hard for my family too. I know what it does to them. I normally avoid playing in the house unless I'm home alone. I sighed, not knowing exactly what to say.

I peeked behind me at Harry and Louis. Louis was asleep, his head in Harry's lap and Harry's head was thrown back, his mouth hanging open as he snored lightly. I wasn't sure I wanted them to know just yet, if ever.  
>I finally turned back to Niall, still not knowing how to say what I wanted to say.<p>

"I… Well, it's because…Things have happened, and they've really influenced how I play. I'm not sure I'm ready to share it with everyone yet," I finally said.

"You know we would never judge you," Niall said sympathetically.

"I know, but it's still hard. I've only recently started playing again."

"You mean you've stopped playing? For how long?"

"I stopped when I was almost 15 and I started again last spring," I said, staring blankly at the road ahead.

"What made you stop?" He pressed gently.

"I don't really want to talk about it. It's a bit personal," I told him.

Niall reached out and took my right hand from the steering wheel and wove his fingers through my own. It was a small, simple gesture but it held so much meaning. He understood. As he rubbed his thumb across the back of my hand in a soothing way, I wondered how I could possibly be so lucky to have someone like Niall suddenly walk into my life. I've done nothing to deserve someone as kind hearted and as sweet as him. As if he heard my last thought, he leaned over and pressed a kiss to my cheek. I momentarily leaned into his touch.

"I just want you to know that I'm here if you ever want to talk. You can trust me, you know?" He murmured.

"I know," I replied, toying with his fingers.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

I turned into my driveway nearly 20 minutes later and I pulled up next to Michael's vacant car. After pulling the keys out, Niall and I turned to look at Harry and Louis who were still asleep. A glint twinkled in Niall's blue eyes and I laughed softly.

"How about _I _wake them," I said. "I don't think they'll be pleased with whatever techniques you're thinking of,"

With a laugh, Niall got out of the car and went to the trunk to carry in the bags of clothing we had all purchased today. I went around to Louis' side and opened the door, for if I had opened Harry's door, he would have surely toppled out from the way he was sleeping.

"Louis… Harry… Wake up," I said, placing a hand gently on Louis' back. His eyes fluttered open and he looked at me dazed.

I took his arm and pulled him out of the car and walked I him to the house. Harry was only stirring when I got back. I unbuckled his seatbelt and like Louis, I took a hold if Harry's arm, pulling him from the warmth of the car.

"You know, you're a pretty nice thing to wake up to," he grinned tiredly, running his fingers through his curls.

"Well hurry your butt up, I'm freezing," I said through chattering teeth.

We made our way into the house. The entrance was covered in shoes tossed randomly. With a sign, I grabbed the shoes and lined them up nicely against the wall. Thankfully they had hung their jackets up. I sauntered into the kitchen where Melanie, Niall, Michael and Louis were seated at the table and Liam, Harry and Nick were perched on the counters. Everyone was talking loudly as though no one had been asleep only moments ago. I sat next to Melanie and leaned tiredly against her shoulder.

"Who's sleeping where?" I asked.

For such a simple question, it took us nearly 10 minutes to come up with a decent answer. Mike was sleeping in his room and Nick had claimed his usual spot, the springy old sofa in Michael's room. Melanie and I would share my bed- as usual. Melanie began to offer up the sofa in my room but I jabbed my elbow in her ribs. I was NOT sharing my room with any of them. And so instead Michael offered to grab an old mattress from the back of his closet that 2 or even 3 of the boys could sleep on. Niall, not wanting to share a bed with Louis who tossed and turned all night claimed the largest couch in the living room, leaving the other 3 to share a mattress in Michael's room.

I was absolutely exhausted and I hadn't gotten a random surge of energy yet like everyone else, so I retreated to my bedroom after saying goodnight to everyone. I changed into a pair of black booty shorts and an old t-shirt, not even bothering to remove my makeup or brush my teeth before crawling into my bed and curling up. Downstairs, the clock rang softly, letting the house know that it was 2am, but I was sound asleep before the second chime.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

I woke up to the sound of snoring, which I found odd because Melanie didn't snore. I peeked at the other side of the bed and saw Melanie sound asleep. Sitting up, I looked at the other end of the room. Harry was asleep on my couch, a thick blanket wrapped around him while a leg and arm hung off the side. He must have crawled in here sometime in the night.

I picked up my phone from the small table next to my bed and checked the time. 8:23. Weird. I wasn't even tired. I slipped out of the bed and quietly tip toed over to my closet, and careful not to wake anyone, I slipped inside, coming out moments later with a sweater in my hands. I put the red sweater on, made sure the strings were equal before zipping it up and tip toeing out if the room and into the hall. I peeked into Michael's room and glanced around, noticing all the boys still asleep. I made my way downstairs, wrapping my arms around me. Down in the living room, Niall was sprawled out on the nearest couch, his bare chest visible beneath the grey duvet. His chest rose softly and I took a tentative step towards the couch. He looked so much younger, not a single emotion etched upon his face. I left the living room and went into the kitchen for a cup of coffee. At 9, I rinsed out my mug and walked over to the pantry in search for one of my mother's cookbooks, figuring I'd begin preparing breakfast. After locating a breakfast cookbook, I sat on the counter next to the sink and flipped through the pages, looking for something easy to make. I dog-eared a page and hopped off the counter, making my way to the fridge to make sure I had all the right ingredients. I was surprised to see that Michael had gone grocery shopping.

I was slicing up a container of strawberries when I Niall appeared in the kitchen wearing nothing but a pair of Michael's grey sweat pants. He ran his hand through his wild blonde hair and blinked at me.

"Hey," He yawned, "You're up early,"

"I know. I couldn't fall back asleep," I said, my eyes flickering down his chest. Sweet baby Jesus, he's got a 6 pack. I forced my eyes to look back down at the strawberries I was supposed to be cutting. His face cracked into a grin.

"Do you want some help with those?" He asked smugly. Obviously I need to work on my ogling skills.

"If you want," I shrugged casually. I glanced up at him again but my eyes didn't make it any higher than his stomach. I mentally cursed myself.

"Should I go put a shirt on? You might cut yourself if you keep looking at me instead of the knife," He said cockily.

"Very funny," I said dryly and he laughed.

He came around the counter and his eyes shot down to my bare legs. He didn't even bother trying to hide the fact that he was openly checking me out, his eyes taking in my smooth legs. Ha! He was no better.

"It's a bit chilly in here. I think I'll go put some pants on," I said, putting the knife down on the cutting board.

"Now that's not fair," He accused, looking at my face.

We stared at each other for a couple seconds, both grinning, before I nodded to a bunch of bananas.

"You can cut those," I said, picking up my knife and turning back to the strawberries to hide my grin.

He brought over a knife and a bowl that was on the counter and stood next to me, slicing up the bananas. I could literally feel his body heat through my sweater and his arm brushed mine every 10 seconds or so. We were silent for a while and my thoughts tumbled in. This was the first time we were alone since Saturday morning. I wondered if I should talk to him about… us, if there even was an 'us'. I looked over at him and my eyes zeroed in on the red mark on his neck. There was another one a couple inches lower on his collarbone. I glanced at his arms. God, he was so fit. I momentarily paused what I was doing. I actually flirted with Niall. And he flirted back. Yet another thing I normally didn't do. Well, actually, that was a lie. I've flirted with boys before, but I've never actually flirted with someone I liked. Most likely because I've never actually liked someone like I like Niall. This thing that we were doing, holding hands, playful banter, cute conversations, were things that I wasn't used to, but the longer it went on, it was definitely something I wouldn't mind getting used to.  
>He looked up, meeting my eyes and we turned away at the same time. Moments later, I felt his eyes on my face and I turned to look at him. He grinned and turned away. This went on for another couple minutes until he suddenly dropped his knife on the counter.<p>

"Fuck it," He growled, wrapping his arm around my waist and slamming his lips on to mine. I dropped the knife in surprise and stiffened. He pulled me tight against him, his lips moving against my own unresponsive ones. It took me a moment before I snapped out of it and circled my arms around his neck, burying my fingers in his hair, tugging at the locks. He backed me up into the counter and gripped me around the waist, his lips moving urgently. I kissed him back roughly, trailing one of my hands down to his chest. He shivered violently and dropped his hands down to my bum, lifting me unto the counter in one swift movement. I wrapped my legs around his waist, locking them in place and I pulled him close to me, biting at his bottom lip. With a groan, his tongue darted out, meeting my own.

I pulled away when breathing became an issue and he leaned forward, resting his forehead against mine and trailing his hand up and down my thigh. He stared into my eyes, and his face cracked into a grin. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine again, but this time softly.

"Niall, what are we doing?" I murmured, as his lips trailed to the side of my mouth and continuing down my jaw. My breath hitched and my heart picked up speed again as he latched onto my neck, sucking at one spot. I gripped his shoulders tightly and I sighed loudly. I cracked open an eye and yelped, shoving Niall away.

"LOUIS!" I cried.

Louis had been standing by the fridge snickering silently with his phone out, pointed at us. Niall whipped around, confused, and when his eyes landed on Louis, Louis' eyes widened and he bolted down the hallway laughing loudly. Niall glanced at me sheepishly and ran a hand through his hair. I raised an eyebrow, and unable to contain it anymore, I burst out laughing, doubling over. I slid off the counter, still laughing and I slung an arm around Niall's shoulder.

"I'm sorry for shoving you," I said when my laugh died down.

"It's fine," He said, cracking a smile. Then, I leaned in and pressed my lips against his once more, letting them linger, before backing away. With a glance over my shoulder at a pink-faced Niall, I went in pursuit after Louis. He was so dead.

_**A/N; **__**Hey! Like promised, here's another lame chapter. I thought the ending was kind of cute! I'd love to see a review! I have almost 2000 hits on this story and so little reviews. It's quite depressing. Though Virtual High Fives to those who do take the time to review! Also, if any of you have tumblr, let me know! I'd love to follow you (:**_

_**~GiveMeLovee**_


	10. Chapter 10

Forever Young Chapter 10

_**Niall'sPOV**_

As I watched her long legs carry her away, I ran my hand though my tousled hair again. I took a moment to reflect on what just happened. It was all so quick, but it seemed as though it was etched into my mind. One moment, I'm slicing bananas, the next moment I'm lifting her up onto the counter, trailing my hands along her almost naked thighs. I was almost embarrassed that I had made such a bold move. It could have easily turned disastrous which could have led to us being intensely awkward but her reaction had been the best part. She had quickly moulded herself against me, tugging at my hair with slender fingers. And then Louis had to ruin it… again.

One thing I couldn't get out of my mind was something that she had mumbled against my lips; "What are we doing?"  
>I leaned against the counter and scratched at my head. I had absolutely no answer to that. I did however know for a fact that I liked her more than I should and it was painfully obvious, as Harry liked to remind me often. But then again, how could I not? She was beautiful in every way, inside and out. She was funny without even trying. She had a lot of attention from boys, but I don't think she realized the effect she had on them. Several times I caught boys ogling her at the mall and I casually wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She thought nothing of it and noticed nothing. Man, I had it bad.<p>

I've never felt such at ease around a girl before. I was always afraid of slipping up and doing something immature that would make them think twice about me, but being around her was as easy as breathing. For a long time, I was beginning to think that I wouldn't find someone who would like me as Niall, but rather as Niall Horan from One Direction, but I was beginning to think that maybe she was different than others. I mean, there was no doubting that she had caught my attention with her external beauty, but often girls don't have the right personality to capture me like she had. The more I thought of it, the more I pictured her as the perfect girl.

I really wanted to talk to her about it. I wanted her to know that I loved being around her. I wanted to tell her that when she smiled, so did I because seeing her happy made me happy. I wanted to tell her that I didn't want to have to get nervous about whether it was ok to kiss her or not.

Running my fingers through my hair once more, I decided a group meeting with the boys was long overdue.

I picked up Melissa's knife and finished cutting up the strawberries. As I was finishing, I heard a loud thud followed by Louis hollering loudly and a cry of victory from Melissa.' Get him good, Melissa', I thought with a chuckle.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_**Melissa's POV**_

I trotted down the hall while flattening my hair and rounded the corner just as Louis' feet disappeared up the last step, most likely on his way to wake Harry.

"Louis!" I hissed, darting up the stairs after him.

I chased him through the halls as he skipped towards my room. As he reached out for the door handle my arm shot out and yanked him back. He spun around clutching his phone protectively to his chest. He let out a giggle.

"Hand it over," I said, narrowing his eyes.

"Why would I do that?" He asked happily, holding the phone over his head when I lunged for it. "We don't keep things from each other, you know."

"But that's a total invasion of my privacy! It isn't fair!" I protested, my eyebrows pinched together.

"Well you shouldn't be doing private things in the kitchen. Quite an interesting place the pair of you chose to make out," He pondered happily.

I lunged for the phone again and wrapped my fingers around it. I then proceeded to tug it from Louis' strong grasp but he held onto it tightly.

"I'm going to post it on twitter," He grinned maniacally.

With much effort, I tripped him to the ground and with one knee on his chest I yanked the phone from his clutch.

"NO!" He cried, lunging for it, but I held it over my head and cried out in victory.

Suddenly my bedroom door opened and Louis and I froze mid fight. Melanie appeared in the doorway rubbing her eyes tiredly. Harry peeked over the arm of the couch curiously, his hair a messy halo on his head.

"What on earth are the pair of you doing out here?" She yawned. Across the hall, Michael's door opened and Liam emerged shirtless.

"She stole my phone!" Louis accused.

"What'd she do that for?" Michael asked, emerging behind Liam.

"Because I caught her doing naughty-"

My hand shot out and I clamped it over Louis' mouth, cutting off the rest of his sentence.

"What?" Liam asked, looking at me and then down to my hand.

Louis spoke again, knowing fully well that no one would understand his muffled words beneath my hand. Then, his tongue darted out and licked my hand. Obviously, he expected me to pull my hand back in disgust but I left it planted firmly over his mouth.

"Nothing," I said sweetly, "right, Louis?"

I gave him a hard look, but at the same time, I gave him a pleading look with my eyes. I really didn't need any more teasing from everyone and it was a little too personal to be sharing. Louis stopped licking my hand, and with a sigh, he nodded. I carefully removed my saliva covered hand from his mouth.

"We're just messing around," Louis said, reaching up to ruffle my hair.

I reached out and wiped my hand across his striped shirt before pushing myself off the ground with a sigh of relief. With a shrug, Melanie retreated back into my room while Harry threw a questioning look at Louis who winked back. Harry then rolled over on the couch and pulled the covers over his head. Liam was already half way down the hall heading towards the bathroom and with a roll of his eyes, Michael headed towards the stairs. I held a hand out to Louis and pulled him off the carpet.

"Can you delete it please?" I asked sheepishly.

"Of course. I'm just teasing you guys, you know?" He said with a soft smile. "But really, the kitchen counters?" He winked. He gave me a gentle nudge on my shoulder and with a smirk he headed into Michael's room. With a sigh, I ran my fingers through my hair, dragging them through the mess Niall had created. I padded into my room to find Melanie running a brush through her hair.

"What was that all about?" She asked, reaching for the elastic around my wrist. I gave it to her and shrugged, picking up the brush.

"Just Louis being silly," I replied.

"But he was saying something about catching you being naughty?" She said, wrinkling her nose.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said slowly, nodding towards the lump of blankets on the couch. Her face fell into an 'Oh' and she nodded.

"After," I mouthed silently. She nodded again.

I ran the brush through my hair a couple times and pulled it back into a ponytail, holding it in place while I scanned the room for a stray elastic.

"Is that a hickey on your neck?" Melanie gasped loudly.

"Melanie!" I hissed, smacking her arm when Harry poked his head out from beneath the covers.

"Let me see," He said, his voice low and scratchy yet full of amusement. He tumbled off the couch and picked himself off the ground.

"Have you and Niall been going at it again?" He smirked when I dropped my hair. "No, come on, let me see,"

I backed away and tugged my hood around my neck.

"Harry, stop," I said weakly.

He paused and his grin slowly slid off his face.

"What's wrong?" He asked, taking a step forward.

Suddenly, I felt angry. Why was everyone so intent on shoving their noses in my business? Why should everyone know every little detail of every little moment Niall and I spend together? I gritted my teeth and brushed past him, ignoring Melanie who had called out my name.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

I left the room and paused in the hallway, unsure of where to flee. I was angry. I needed to be on my own, but with everyone downstairs and Harry and Melanie in my room made it difficult. I took a few steps towards my parent's room, considering the thought of curling up on their bed. A pang of sadness suddenly washed over me. I missed my mom. It was at times like this when I really needed to talk to her. With her having been on vacation for over a week, I decided to not bother them and wait for them to come home to talk to them. With a strained sigh, I turned the other way and made my way quietly down the stairs. Instead of turning towards the kitchen, I took another turn and headed towards my father's office. I closed the door behind me and padded over to his desk. I lowered myself onto the cold leather chair and brought my bare legs up to my chest, hugging them tightly.  
>I reached forward for the phone and began dialing my mother's cellphone number, but pressed 'end' before I finished. I could wait until tonight, when they were coming home. With a sigh, I placed the phone back and sank further into the chair.<p>

I've known Niall for a total of 5 days now, 5 days of joking around, playing silly games, talking, getting to know each other. I always assumed that famous people let the fame get to their head. I always expected a group of 5 teen boys to be stuck up, cocky, rude, full of themselves, but the boys were anything but that. Sure, everyone has their moments, their days, but these boys have amazing, warm personalities. I also had to count in the fact that they were still immature, silly, and loud but I knew that Harry, Louis or any of them had no intention of upsetting me.

The more I thought about it, the more it seemed silly to be angry at them. My anger slowly subsided into sadness. I didn't know what to do. I was horribly confused. I still didn't even fully understand what was going on. Am I here simply for his entertainment? If so, then we were on completely different pages, different books even. I didn't want to admit it, but I was beginning to feel different feelings towards Niall. They were hard to explain, and I didn't have the right words for it. If I had to throw one out, I'd said I was getting attached, and that was the last thing I needed. This made everything worse. With a frustrated sigh, I ran my fingers through my tamed hair and dug into my pocked for my phone. I dialed up someone I should have called days ago.

"Hello?"

"Laura? Do you have a few minutes? I need your advice on something…"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_**Melanie's POV**_

Melissa left the room with a frown on her face.

"Melissa!" I called out. She ignored me.

There was definitely something on her mind. I can't remember the last time she walked away from me. I decided not to follow her. Perhaps a few minutes with her thoughts could help her solve whatever has been bothering her.  
>Harry's eyebrows pinched together and he turned to me slowly.<p>

"Did I say something wrong?" He asked. I sighed heavily.

"I don't think it's you, or me. I mean, I could be wrong, but I think she just has a lot on her mind at the moment. I've known her for years and I know for a fact that she's been coping with a lot for a while. Just give her some slack; she just needs some time to think some things over. So until then, try not to take anything personally- unless she socks you in the face, then I would assume it's pretty personal," I offered. Harry nodded slowly, taking in what I just told him.

"Do you know what's upsetting her?"

"I have a vague idea," I said, pursing my lips.

"What is it?"

"I don't think I can tell you. You'd have to ask her yourself. Whether she wants you to know or not is up to her," After a pause, I looked away from Harry, "A few things have happened in the past and I guess it just really messed her up. It would mess anyone up. She's doing loads better, but the usual stressful things add onto it. Plus, I actually think that all the teasing towards her and Niall is really bugging her. She's just too nice to say anything,"

I had chosen my words carefully to not reveal anything too personal.

"Was it a boyfriend?" Harry asked suddenly, plopping down in the fluffy carpet.

"What do you mean?" I asked, lowering myself next to his shirtless frame. I couldn't help but think that I'd much rather see Zayn shirtless…

"Well, I mean, did she have a boyfriend and did he… erm… break her heart?" Harry asked.

"Well, no! See, that's the thing. She doesn't want one. She's never had one in years,"

"What? Why not? What about Niall?" He frowned.

I paused, unsure if what to say. I was sure that she liked Niall. She wasn't the type to play games.

"If you go back and tell the boys anything I am about to tell you, I WILL castrate you, Harry Styles," I threatened.

"I promise," He rushed out.

"I shouldn't even be telling you anything," I murmured, checking the door for any signs of Melissa. I knew I shouldn't say anything, but maybe it would help Harry understand Melissa a little more.

"I won't say anything to anyone. I swear," He reassured me.

With one last glance at the door, I sighed heavily and leaned over to whisper in Harry's ear. He pulled back, his face in shock.

"No!" He whispered in horror.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_**Melissa's POV**_

After I told Laura everything that had been bothering me, I waited patiently for her answer.

"Ok, so let me get this straight, you, Melissa Neil, like Niall Horan? Like, like like him?" She said in awe.

"I didn't say that! Were you listening to anything I said earlier?" I said in exasperation.

"Sure I did," She said.

"Then you'd realize how messed up this is, and I hate it!"

"Melissa," She deadpanned, "Go ahead and explain to me how this could possibly be complicated. Other than him living on a completely different continent and being famous and having about a million lady fans…" I frowned. This was not helpful. "The point I'm trying to make is that you like a boy and he likes you! Don't let this slip away!"

"No! You see, it's not that easy! I don't know if he likes me like that. Plus," I took a deep breath, "I don't know I'd be able to deal with it if something went wrong."

"I know you, Melissa, you're very determined when you want something. You guys could make something work," She said.

"Just tell me what to do, Laura. I don't know what to do." I sniffed.

"Ok, well, tell me, why do you like him?"

I pulled at my hair frustrated. "I don't know, I just do! He's nice, funny, charming, and he thinks of others. He makes me smile a lot. And it scares the crap out of me. I feel like my heart is going to pound out of my chest whenever he's near me."

"Alright, not think of what you just said. Does that sound familiar?"

I pinched my eyebrows together. Laura had said similar words to me ages ago about Samuel. She had been in a somewhat similar situation as me but I told her quite clearly that he liked her and she was head over heels in love with him and that there was nothing but themselves holding each other back.

"Yeah," I mumbled.

"Now what did you tell me?" I could practically hear her smile through the phone.

"I told you not to be scared," I said with a sigh.

"That's right, and you also told me to stop worrying about what could go wrong and instead focus on what could go right," She said wisely. "It's about time you started taking your own advice, Melissa."

"Fine," I said eventually.

"Promise you'll get around to talking to him?" She pressed.

"I promise,"

"Alright, now is there anything else you need?"

I shook my head, and then remembered she couldn't see me and answered 'no'.

"Ok, because Samuel has been waiting for me for a while now. We're supposed to be going somewhere,"

"Alright, have a good time, and thanks loads for the advice,"

We said goodbye and hung up.

I don't know exactly how long I sat there for while everything mulled over in my head. First I thought of how big the possibility was that Niall was actually interested in me, then I managed to brush that thought away with the fact that he was famous and most likely got the attention of loads of girls prettier than me. By the time Michael found me moping, I was worse than I had been when I started. At least the anger was gone. The guilt of having been rude to Harry finally sunk in, but I had felt even worse for ignoring Melanie.

I guess it was no news that I had gotten mad at Harry and Melanie because Michael entered the office with a look of concern on his face.

"What are you doing in here?" He asked, leaning against the side of the desk.

"Thinking," I shrugged.

"About Niall," He said knowingly. I didn't reply.

"Well go on then, rant about your boy problems to me,"

I scoffed. "I'm not telling you anything,"

"And why not? I might be able to give you some brotherly advice," He said, his mouth quirked in a grin.

"No thanks, I think I'll survive without them," I said with a small smile.

"I'm hurt," He gasped, clutching his heart with both hands.

"Oh, poor you," I chuckled.

We sat in a comfortable silence for a minute or so before Michael spoke again.

"What happened this morning? With Louis, I mean. And Niall for that matter. He seems bothered by the fact that you were angry,"

My cheeks turned pink. "Erm… well… Niall and I sorta… kissed a bit… and Louis might have seen,"

Awkward.

I half expected Michael to be angry or something but he only nodded thoughtfully. No brotherly protection from boys? This was unlike Michael.

"Ok, so why are you angry?"

I made a face. "Louis got some pictures or a video or something and he was going to show the other boys. I mean, I guess they're all used to it- having people prod into their personal lives, but I'm not. It's embarrassing," I admitted.

"But that's not everything. I know you better than that. There's definitely more to it," He said, eyeing me.

I shifted uncomfortably in the oversized chair.

"I sent an application to the Royal Academy of Music," I said slowly.

"Really? That's great!" He exclaimed. He obviously hadn't expected it.

Ever since I was young, I've always wanted to move far and study music, and one day when we were 11, Melanie had brought up a school in London while my parents were around. Ever since then, everyone had been encouraging me to apply, even though I had to wait years. But as the time came closer, something happened and I had cut off music entirely. My reason to make music was no longer there. I felt lost, and I decided that the RAM was not where I wanted to go. I know that I had disappointed my parents who fully expected me to apply there and get in, but I couldn't do it. For a few years, I steered clear of any musical instruments, even those in my own house. Then, after nearly 2 and a half years, I sat down at the piano at the back of my house and played and while I played, I cried the hardest I've cried in years. But I knew that I could do this, and so when the time came, it was harder than I expected, but I sent in an application to the school. I figured that even if I didn't get in, I could say that I had tried.

"How's that going to work then? Michael asked, breaking my train of thought.

"Well, they're going to look at my marks first, then they'll send a letter back for an audition if they think I'm good enough."

Michael ran a hand through his hair, still looking at me amazed.

"Have you told mum and dad yet?"

"No," I said guiltily, "Only you."

"So what bothers you? Getting in? The audition? Moving from home?"

"All of it," I answered, looking up at him. "It's just really hard. I really want to make it. It would mean so much to…" My voice threatened to crack.

"I know," He sighed, leaning forward to ruffle my hair.

"She would be proud of you, you know?" He said, offering a small smile.

"I don't want to disappoint anyone," I told him.

"That would never happen. You have an amazing talent. It would only be a waste to hide it,"

"Do you mean it?" I asked.

"Every word of it. You'll do great. They'd be insane not to accept you," He smiled.

I felt a rush of emotion towards my brother. Sure, we got into arguments, disagreed on loads of things, treated each other awfully at times, but it was nice to know that I could count on him to cheer me up.

"Give me a hug," He said, tugging my arm. He pulled me from the chair and wrapped his arms around me.

"Thanks," I said.

"Anytime. Now go talk to your pop star boy toy, or I will. And believe me, I've got loads to say,"

Ahh, there's the protective older brother.  
>Michael instructed me to go eat after my stomach grumbled loudly and he steered me out of the office. Mike told me that everyone had already eaten the meal I had begun to prepare after much complaining from Nicolas. As I neared the kitchen with Michael, I took a deep breath and planted a smile on my face. Just because I was having a crappy morning, it didn't mean that everyone else should be affected. I didn't want anyone to worry about me at the moment.<p>

"Melissa! Where have you been?" Liam hollered, catching site of me first.

"I was on the phone with Laura. I guess I lost track of time," I smiled.

I glanced at Melanie with worry in my eyes and she smiled. I sighed in relief. It was her form of accepting my unspoken apology. She was after all my best friend for a reason. I smiled back and looked around the kitchen. Louis, Liam, Melanie and Nicolas were seated around the table and Michael joined them. Niall and Harry were currently placing the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Niall looked up at me with concern clouding his eyes.

"Everything all right?" He asked. I shivered. God, I'd never get used to his strong accent.

"Yeah, of course!" I said quickly. He frowned but seemed to decide against questioning my lie.

"Alright, well there are some fruits left in the fridge, but there aren't any more waffles left," He said.

I thanked him and went to dig through the fridge for a bowl of mixed fruits. Strawberries and bananas. I felt my neck get hot as I remembered our last kiss and I walked over to the counter for a fork. Niall glanced down at the bowl in my hands and then up at me. His face cracked into a grin revealing his braces. I let out an embarrassed laugh and turned away from him.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked. Thankfully he didn't seem fazed by my rudeness earlier and I assumed Melanie most likely told him not to take it personally. I made a mental note to thank her later and another to tell her about my university application.

"Nothing," I replied.

I shared one more shy grin with Niall and sat at the table.

"So what have I missed?" I said, bringing up a fork full of fruit up to my mouth.

"Well," Louis pouted, "Zayn and Lukas won't be home until 5 and Melanie owes me a head massage,"

"Lies!" Melanie said, plucking a strawberry from the tip of my fork and popping it at Louis. Louis glared playfully at Melanie and reached for another fruit to throw back.

"Let me eat in peace!" I cried, swatting Louis' hand away from my bowl and pulling it up to my chest. Everyone laughed.

I could tell that this day had not been ruined by my moping and when Niall sat down next to me and took my hand in his beneath the table cloth, my stomach burst into butterflies. Then it really hit me. I like Niall Horan.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_**A/N; **__**Hey! Sorry for the uber long wait on this chapter. A family emergency came up and I had to leave home for a few days. I'm working on the next chapter now so it should be up soon! I'd love to see a review! I want to know how I'm doing! So leave a review!  
>~GiveMeLovee<strong>_


	11. Chapter 11

Forever Young Chapter 11

It had been a very lazy morning. Louis left the table soon after I finished eating to call his mother whom he missed, and we settled around the living room, some watching the TV while others browsed the tumblr and twitter. No one had bothered changing out of their sleepwear and so when Liam suggested making a random video in our pajamas, I laughed loudly and declined his offer.

"Why not? You look fine," Harry said, flopping down heavily on the couch next to me.

"Nope, I won't do it. I'll record you guys though,"

"But what's the point of making the video?" Melanie asked, moving from her seat on the floor to the other couch.

"We'll put it online, you know, show our fans what we're doing in Canada. Just tell them about random stuff. Niall will want to tell them about all the Canadian foods we've been trying, right Niall?" Liam said. Niall laughed.

"Well then you can count me out. I'll be honest with you. Your fans are vicious," Melanie said.

"Oh," Liam said with a frown. Then his face lit up. "We should do the Cinnamon Challenge!"

"Mate, people have died doing that," Niall pointed out.

"I've seen loads of people throw up because of it," I added, wrinkling my nose in disgust.

"Well, I'm on Melissa's tumblr right now and she's got loads of messages from her inbox, and that picture you guys," Melanie said, pointing to Harry and I, "Has a couple thousand views. Plus, loads of fans have left her questions, asking Melissa if she can answer them, so why not go through them and answer a few?" Melanie suggested.

"Instead of doing something stupid," I threw in.

"But Zayn isn't here," Liam pouted.

"Then we'll check some of the questions and prepare some. We'll do it tonight. But maybe someone should call first and ask. I don't know if we're allowed to do something like that," Harry said, lifting himself from the couch. I turned back to temple run while Harry left to go find Louis.

"Mel, look," Melanie said. With my laptop in her hands, she crossed the room and plopped down next to me, showing me the screen. It was an article from Sugarscape's website with the headline **'Niall's Canadian Lady Friend?'**

_**A rumor rose a few weeks ago about the boys taking a vacation to visit one of the member's family, and the pictures below prove just this; One Direction is in Canada. As we know, the 5 boys have captured the hearts of girls all over the world, and so when they were spotted downtown Montreal, QC without Zayn, we couldn't help but wonder who the two lovely ladies accompanying them were. We noticed that our favorite little leprechaun seemed a little too close to one of the girls to our liking. The small group spent the afternoon shopping and were reportedly seen going into a movie theater later that evening. The pictures below show a young lady hand-in-hand with Niall. Who is she? And does this mean that Niall Horan is off the market? **_

I scrolled down and stared dumbly at the pictures below. There were several of the entire group, but there was indeed one where Niall and I could be seen sharing a laugh while holding hands.

"Louis punched me!" Harry wailed, sprinting into the living room. "What's that?" He asked, stopping abruptly behind me. He leaned against the back of the sofa and read the article on the screen.

"Oh…" He said, "That's certainly interesting,"

"What is it?" Liam asked, muting the television to which Nicolas and Michael protested to and finally retreated to Michael's room to continue watching the movie.

"Sugarscape posted an article about us being in Canada, but they went and wrote in that Melissa was Niall's… what was it? Canadian lady friend or something like that?"

"Did they really?" Louis asked, walking into the living room and tucking his phone into his pajama pocket.

Everyone was either looking at me or Niall. I suppose it was inevitable. No one thought that we were going to be spotted, but they obviously had. There was no point in getting upset over it. The only thing that bothered me was the fan's possible reaction. I looked at Niall and shrugged.

"Nothing to do about it now, is there? Just ignore it," I said, turning back to my game of temple run. I was close to beating my record.

"Niall mate, fans are going to ask you if you're single. What are you going to say?" Louis winked.

"Louis, you're putting Niall on the spot," Liam cooed.

Louis leaped onto Niall and pinned him into the couch, which resulted in the others pouncing onto the pile. Melanie and I retreated up to my room when the boys began throwing pillows.

"Don't break anything," I hollered to them, already half way up the stairs.

"Does it seriously not bother you?" Melanie asked, closing the door behind her. "I thought you'd get mad or something,"

"Well, I suppose it was bound to happen," I said, collapsing on my bed.

Melanie and I spent a few hours on my room talking about gossip, clothes, and the boys. We had gone downstairs to retrieve a bag of chips and some drinks. The 4 boys had set up the x-box and were too busy playing to really notice us. We had been in the middle of gushing over Ryan Gosling when I remembered something.

"So, I have something to tell you," I said, popping a chip in my mouth.

"You're moving back to London with Niall?" Melanie guessed.

"Close," I said.

"What?" She asked, sitting up.

"I applied for the Royal Academy of Music," I told her casually.

"WHAT?" She shrieked. She launched forward and pulled me into a hug.

"Mel, I'm so proud of you!" She said, hugging me tightly.

"Thanks," I smiled back. I was beginning to really feel excited about the whole thing.

"Do the others know?" She asked, pulling away.

"No, why would they?" I asked.

"Well, then it means that you'll be on the same continent as Niall. Problem solv-"

Just then, my door flew open and Liam popped his head in.

"What's going on? Why are you girls yelling?" He asked, coming in the room followed by Niall, Louis and Harry who sat next to me and took the bag of chips form my hands.

"Harry!" I scolded, snatching the bag back. "I was just telling Melanie something," The boys seemed to be unfazed about our girl talk and they all settled comfortably in my room.

"Well we want to know!" Louis said in a girly tone. He batted his eyelashes and Niall laughed loudly. That was another thing I liked about Niall; He was always laughing.

"Are you sure?" I asked slowly.

"Yes!" They chorused.

"Alright… well… my period is finally over!" I said, clapping my hands together happily.

Harry who had been taking a large gulp straight from the carton of grape juice choked loudly while Liam and Niall grimaced in disgust. Louis rolled over and pretended to retch loudly onto my carpet.

"Harry!" I scolded again; reaching for the box of Kleenex to wipe away the purple juice that had ran down his front and onto my white blankets. Too late. Now I was stuck with a large purple stain.

"Well it's not my fault! I didn't need to know that!" He protested.

"I was only kidding! I told Melissa that I had sent an application to University," I laughed.

"Oh really? What University?" Liam asked politely.

I hesitated.

"She applied to the Royal Academy of Music," Melanie answered.

"That's in London!" Niall said with a wide smile.

"Yeah, and it's really hard to get into," Liam said.

"Now I really want to hear you play piano," said Harry, reaching for my cat at the end of my bed. She curled up onto his chest.

"That's no fair!" Melanie complained.

"What?" Louis said.

"Melissa's cat hates everyone! She bites me all the time! Look, I've got battle scars to prove it!" She shoved her scratched hands into Harry's face.

"Well she loves me, don't you?" Harry cooed, petting Cookie's head.

A knock rang through the house and the dogs barked loudly, signaling someone at the front door. I tossed the bag of chips at Melanie and maneuvered by Louis, Liam and Niall and out of my room.

"Lukas!" I exclaimed, throwing open the front door.

Lukas and Zayn were both at the front door, grinning down at me while Lukas' parents pulled out of the driveway.

"Come in!" I said, pulling Lukas forward.

"You guys are back early," I commented, taking their jackets from them and tossing them in the closet instead of hanging them.

"Yeah, we left a bit earlier this morning," Zayn told me. They followed me up the stairs and at the site of Zayn, Liam leaped up off the couch, astonished.

"Leeyum!" Zayn cried, pushing Louis (who had come forward to hug Zayn) out of the way to hug Liam tightly. I frowned and helped Louis off the ground while the others all laughed.

"Liam is Zayn's boyfriend," Louis pouted playfully and I laughed.

With both Zayn and Lukas back, the atmosphere brightened. I could easily see the difference in the boy's behavior now that all 5 were together again. Much like the other day, we collected blankets and gathered in my room. It was definitely smaller than Lukas' but larger than most. Lukas's house was just enormous. Harry stayed curled up on my bed with the cat and Louis joined him claiming he was being replaced by the cat. Halfway through Finding Nemo I left the room and decided that I should start cleaning the house now for it to be even semi decent for when my parents finally came home. I started with the living room, picking up empty cups and dishes and then I straightened the cushions and pillows that the boys had fun destroying. Other than that, I decided that the house was clean enough that my mother wouldn't notice and I began cooking supper. I knew my mum liked spaghetti and with 3 hours before they arrived I had enough time to make sauce for 11 people. As I was cutting up some vegetables, Niall sauntered into the kitchen, much like this morning.

"Hey," He said, coming up beside me.

"Hey," I smiled back.

"What are you making?" He asked, leaning on the counter facing me.

"Spaghetti. You guys all like spaghetti, right?" I asked, meeting his blue eyes.

"Yeah, spaghetti is great," He answered, staring at me.

I turned away shyly and remembered this morning, where we had, as Louis put it, got naughty on the kitchen counter. Niall had proved to be an extremely good kisser and I briefly wondered how many girls he had kissed before he disrupted my train of thought.

"So, University in London, ey?" He asked, nudging me gently with his hip.

"Yeah. Just a childhood dream," I shrugged.

"You've got some pretty big dreams. Are you ready to move away from home? London is far," he said.

"I never really thought much about that part. Melanie always said she'd come with me but we were like 13 and it's been years since we've spoken about it. I do think that if I get accepted, I would go. It's a big opportunity to pass up," I said, chopping up some carrots.

"You know, I recently bought a flat in London?"

"Really? That's great. At least I'll know someone there. I think I'll be living in the dorms. Too expensive to be on my own," I decided.

"Maybe I could give you a tour," Niall offered, popping a carrot slice into his mouth.

"That sounds lovely,"

I finished the carrots and moved onto the onions.

"Louis spoke to our manager earlier and he told us that we're going to be on television," Niall said, lifting himself onto the counter. I stopped chopping the onion and looked up at him.

"What? That's amazing! You know, my life in comparison to yours is boring," I grumbled.

"That's not true. I wouldn't mind swapping lives with you," He frowned, "You know, fame has is downsides too,"

"Do they beat the positive things?" I asked.

"No, I suppose they don't. But I do wish sometimes that I could walk down the street without anyone knowing who I am. Don't get me wrong, I love the fans, but they are a little overwhelming. And not just them, all of it. It's not quite something you ever get used to,"

I nodded thoughtfully.

"What are you guys going to be doing on television?"

"Oh, yeah, we're going to be doing an episode of iCarly," He grinned.

"And once again, proof that my life sucks. I'll definitely watch it though. I love iCarly! You guys are so successful! It's insane. Aren't you working on a new album at the moment too?"

"Yeah, but not yet. The boys and I are trying to get permission to each write a song on the album. It'd be really neat. I haven't had any inspiration my song yet if we do it,"

"Write about food. Everyone loves food. You can make it sound like a romantic song, and then reveal months after it's been out that it's actually about food. People would probably expect it from you," I laughed.

"I'll keep that in mind," He said, laughing along with me.

The sky outside soon got dark and Niall helped me with the sauce. Niall proved to be awful in the kitchen. He nearly burnt the pot that was for the pasta, which until then I thought was impossible. So instead, he took his usual seat on the counter and seemed to make it his goal to make me laugh as much as possible. My stomach eventually started hurting and I begged him to stop. Instead, he told me about London. He said he didn't know as much as the other boys but he knew all the good restaurants.

"Of course you do! You never stop eating," I laughed.

Suddenly, he dunked a finger in the sauce and brought it up to his mouth.

"Niall! I hope you washed your hands!" I gasped, swatting him away.

"Let me have some more! I didn't get a good taste!" He protested, laughing.

"Fine, but let me do it. You're not putting your fingers in my sauce again," I said, reaching for a clean spoon.

"That's what she said,"

I let out an embarrassed laugh when I thought of what I had said and I shook my head at him. I filled the spoon with the bubbling sauce and brought it to his mouth, holding my hand under it in case I spilled some. He opened his mouth and I placed the spoon in his mouth.

"That's good," He said after he had swallowed, nodding in approval. "Now it's my turn to spoon feed you," He said, taking the spoon from my grasp.

"No!" I moaned as he filled the spoon. His face cracked into a grin.

"Open up!" he instructed, bringing the spoon to my mouth.

"Niall! It's falling on the floor!"

"Well if you'd open your mouth and let me feed you we wouldn't be having this problem!" He retorted.

"Fine!" I huffed, taking a step closer to him and opening my mouth. He placed the spoon in my mouth and I swallowed.

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" He said. Then he reached over with his thumb and wiped sauce from the corner of my mouth. I met his eyes and blushed at his intense gaze. I had just realized how close we were standing; he was sitting on the counter next to the stove and I had been standing between his legs.

"Say, what would you do if I kissed you right now?" He asked, brushing a stray strand of hair from my face.

"Shall we see?" I whispered back.

I rose on the tip of my toes, reaching for his lips. He brought his head down and connected his lips with mine. Somewhere in the background I heard the spoon clatter to the ground, but I paid no attention to it. Instead, I kissed Niall. It was soft, sweet and cute.

"I'm hungry!" Louis' voice called from the living room and the pair of us sprang apart.

"Every single time," I said, amazed, as I bent down to pick up the spoon. When I stood again I was met with Niall's pink cheeks. As Louis bounded into the kitchen, I casually turned back to the sauce as though Niall and I not been kissing on the counters… again. It was weird. It seemed like every time we kissed, it became more natural, as though it wasn't something forbidden. I didn't feel confused at the moment. It had felt right.

"Hello lovebirds," Louis greeted. "I see Niall is sitting on the counters. Interesting choice you chose to sit. If I remember correctly, Miss Melissa was seated on that exact spot just earlier this morning," He said, waggling his eyebrows.

"Oh, bugger off Lou," Niall said, chucking the spoon at Louis.

_**A/N; **__**HELLO ALL! Thanks loads for those of you amazing people who took the time to review! Virtual High-Fives to you all! (: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It might not be as good as the others because while I wrote it, I was bored out of my mind, so I didn't put that much effort into it. Does that make any sense…? ANYWHOO! Review!  
>~GiveMeLovee<strong>_


	12. Chapter 12

Forever Young Chapter 12

My parents had walked in the door, suitcases in hand, just as I was setting the table which nearly caused me to drop a plate in excitement if Niall hadn't been there to steady my hand. The rest of the boys along with Lukas, Melanie, Nicolas and Michael came downstairs and the boys politely introduced themselves. As the 11 of us entered the kitchen where I was putting the final touches in the sauce Louis even offered to cut up some bread. I threw a questioning look at Liam and he simply grinned back. I wearily handed the sharp knife to Louis and turned to my mother who pulled me into a bone crushing hug.

Harry and Liam helped me serve the spaghetti and soon we were all seated around the table. My parents were surprisingly calm about the fact that there had been 9 teenagers running around the house for several days. But the boys seemed to be oddly well behaved to the point where Melanie and I were exchanging concerned looks. Throughout dinner I half expected the boys to crack and start a spaghetti fight or something but they remained polite. Harry even complimented my mother's beauty repeatedly until I kicked him in the shin under the table. After my parents finished retelling us about their vacation Niall spent nearly the whole rest of the dinner talking about politics and Obama with my father. I was very pleased that my dad had taken a liking to Niall. My parents found the boy's company rather amusing.

"So, do you boys have jobs? Or are you still in school?" My dad asked.

"We're artists actually. The five of us are in a band," Liam answered politely.

This brought up a whole new conversation that lasted past the large chocolate cake I had prepared for dessert. I listened intently as the boys all spoke fondly of each other and their past experiences. At some point I turned to my right where Niall sat and we shared a smile. Niall reached for my hand under the table and toyed with my fingers, turning away to answer something my dad had asked. I caught my mother observing me and I turned away from Niall quickly and asked Melanie something irrelevant about school.

The boys and Lukas began preparing to leave and Nicolas, Michael and Melanie left right after dessert to go to home. I told Melanie that I'd call her later for plans. My mother insisted on cleaning up saying I had already done enough and so I sauntered into the living room where everyone was pulling on shoes and jackets. I hugged all the boys but when I came to Niall he pulled me into a warming hug, rubbing soothing circles on my back, and told me that dinner and dessert was delicious. I thanked him and he tilted his head slightly and planted a kiss on my cheek which heated up right away. I waved goodbye to them and turned away from the entrance with a silly grin on my face only for it to be wiped off at the sight of my mother leaning casually in the doorway. Oh dear lord.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"So, which lucky boy finally caught your eye? It's that blonde one… Niall, isn't it? Yes, that's right."

"Mom! None of them. You're so nosy," I denied.

"Honey, you've got two hickeys on your neck." My mother deadpanned. "And don't think I didn't see Blondie plant a kiss before he left. Did you think you could hide this from your mother?"

"Mom! His name isn't Blondie," I said, my cheeks turning pink. I reached up with my hand to rub my neck consciously.

I was sitting on my parent's bed while my mother unpacked her large suitcase. She had just finished telling me about all the gorgeous young men I had missed at the resort, something she had waited for my father to not be around to share. She then teased me asking how I had managed to survive 10 days on my own and I told her that I had been at either Lukas' or Melanie's for most of it. That's how we hit the topic of 'Blondie' and the marks on my neck that I had forgotten to cover. If she had noticed them then obviously everyone else had too which meant that if the boys didn't know about Niall and I's second round on the kitchen counters they certainly did now. How embarrassing.

"How old is he?" She asked suspiciously.

"18." I replied.

"And he's Irish?"

"No mom, he's a unicorn." My mom ignored the sarcasm in my voice and continued totally unfazed.

"How long have you known him?"

"How long have I known him? A week. How long have I known _of_ him? Maybe 2 years or so,"

"Are you dating?" She asked, dumping dirty clothing in a laundry basket at her feet.

"No mom, I barely know him," I answered, flopping back against the mountain of pillows.

"So get to know him. Handsome young boy. The two of you would make lovely children," She said thoughtfully.

"Mother, you are so inappropriate. And I can't get to know him. He's going back to London on Sunday."

And who knows if I'll ever get the chance to see him again. He'll probably forget about me once he returns to all the pretty girls in London who would throw themselves at him in seconds. I'm just a fling.

"Go back to London with him. Wait," She frowned. "Never mind, don't do that."

"Why not? Maybe I do want to go to London. Maybe not with him in that sense." I said sitting up.

"Why on earth would you want to go to London?" She asked, picking up the laundry basket full of clothes. She began the head towards the door. I took a deep breath. It was now or never.

"Mom, I applied to the R.A.M."

"That's nice, honey. Is that the phone I hear?" She said, continuing out the door.

I sat there dumbfounded. I just told her about my application to University and she had brushed it off as though it was nothing. I slid off the bed and left her room with a frown. Was it nothing? I collapsed heavily on my bed and curled up to my juice stained blanket. Most of the time my mom listened and gave great advice. In some ways, she was more of a friend than a mother but tonight it seemed as though she had other more important things on her mind. I had gone to see her with the hopes of getting advice on my situation with Niall and to tell her about my application but it had all gone wrong. I was quite disappointed. I texted Melanie to tell her that I was going to bed and we could discuss plans tomorrow. I slipped out of bed and changed out of my clothes into a pair of pajama shorts and a loose tank top. As I crawled back into bed I felt a lump under my back. I pulled it out and turned the lamp on. It was the navy sweater Niall had been wearing today. His cologne wafted up from it and I pulled my arms through the soft sleeves and shrugged it onto my bare shoulders before zipping it up. I turned the light off and fell asleep soon after feeling a little better.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

I woke up to the sound of my phone vibrating loudly against the wooden nightstand. I rolled over, taking note that I was still wearing Niall's sweater, and picked up my phone, blinking groggily. My eyes finally focused on a text from Niall.

*Morning (: Wanna go grab some breakfast &coffee?*

I couldn't stop the smile from spreading onto my lips. With a giddy feeling, I texted him back.

*That sounds lovely*

No trace of my horrible mood last night was present.

0o0o0o0o0o0

"…and so we're all lined up to jump in the pool and Harry starts to count down, right? So I jump in but they didn't. It was awful." Niall told me.

"Did you get back at them?" I asked, taking a sip of my coffee.

"Yeah, I ate all the food," He said proudly, leaning back into his chair. He linked his fingers behind his head and I allowed myself to admire the muscles in his arms as the sleeve of his white t-shirt fell back. He looked very edible… ahem, lovely in beige pants and a simple white t-shirt. His hair was styled messily and he claimed that he had only taken 5 minutes to get ready. Harry, however, had texted me soon after I left my house saying Niall spent nearly an hour getting ready for our date. It wasn't a date. It was merely 2 friends going out for breakfast and coffee. I decided not to share the text with Niall. It was rather cute though that he had taken so much time to get ready. I had gotten ready quickly, showering at top speed and throwing a simple pair of black jeans on and a loose cream colored top before I drove to pick Niall up.

We drove to a small café in town and I knew that neither of us had to worry about being 'seen' by fans and such. My town was so small that very few people would recognize any of the boys and that would be the few teenage girls that lived here. In the warm restaurant he ordered a stack of pancakes I went with eggs, bacon and potatoes. Eventually, as our conversation drew on we started picking at each other's plates. I reached over and stabbed at several pieces of pancake with my fork, dragging it across his plate to collect maple syrup before shoving it in my mouth. In return, he reached over and stole my last strip of bacon. I narrowed my eyes and slowed my chewing. That was the last piece.

"Something wrong, love?" He grinned, chewing happily on the bacon. My stomach leaped. He called me love.

"Nope, that's fine. I didn't need it anyways. I must have gained loads of weight over the holidays and it's going straight to my thighs. I can't wait to hit the gym," I told him, patting at my bloated tummy. Niall scoffed.

"You look fine. If anything, it's going to your bum. Not that anyone minds," He smirked.

"Hey! My bum is fabulous." I retorted.

Niall pondered thoughtfully, scratching at his blonde hair. He finally turned back to me with a glint in his blue eyes.

"You're right, it is," He decided finally, grinning cheekily. I rolled my eyes.

The waitress came by with a friendly smile and cleared our plates. I thanked her and she returned soon after with the bill.

"Why've you got the bill? I'm paying." Niall said as he wrapped a scarf around his neck. Once again my eyes zeroed in on the fading marks.

"No, I've got it," I said, zipping my coat. I pulled a couple bills out of my pocket and selected the right amount while he pulled his jacket over his shoulders.

"No you're not. Hand it over." He said, reaching for the bill that I snatched away from his reach.

"Niall, cut it out! Just let me pay. I've already got the money out," I laughed.

"Girls aren't supposed to pay though! Give it here," He said and he lunged at me. "Niall!" I laughed as he wrapped his arms around me in attempt to grab the bill. An elderly woman a few tables down glared at me and I spun in Niall's arms to face him.

"Come on, Niall, stop! You can pay next time, I promise!" I insisted. My head felt dizzy as his cologne filled my nose. His face cracked into a smile. "Next time," He repeated and released an arm but left the other placed firmly on my hip. "I like the sound of that." He said as he accompanied me to the cash. I handed over the bill and the money to our elderly waitress and she smiled, wrinkles appearing around her eyes as she did.

"You two make a very cute couple," She said and handed me my change. My face heated. "Oh, erm, we're n-"

"Thank you," Niall interrupted. Bewildered, I turned to look at him. He smiled down at me, amusement in his eyes and leaned over to peck me on the cheek like last night.

"Have a nice day." The waitress said as Niall let me out of the restaurant.

"Let's go for a walk." He said. He let his arm fall from my waist and he took my hand instead.

My brain was furiously processing what just happened as I walked down the snowy sidewalk with Niall who had a cheerful bounce to his step. Firstly, the waitress had thought we were a couple. She had thought that Niall and I were dating which meant that Niall and I looked like a couple. Did we really? I glanced down at our linked hands. We did. And he had kissed me on the cheek where I was sure they were still blushing. Secondly, while I had gone to correct her false assumption Niall obviously had other ideas in his head and _thanked _her. That was the most shocking part for me. Niall had encouraged her to think that we were together. Did this mean that Niall was keen on the idea of us dating? Or was he just joking around, adding on to our fling? At that point, I stopped myself. There was no use in arguing over the matter in my head now. It could have well been a joke. Nothing to get worked up over. But I wasn't sure whether to feel happy that he had said so instead I allowed confusion to sink in. Everything was confusing to me. I wasn't used to these sorts of things; the kissing, the holding hands, and now being called a couple. Yet I was too scared to actually talk to Niall about it. I didn't want to _hear_ him say that I was just a toy. I don't think I could actually take it. But it's bound to happen sooner or later.

"Is everything alright? You're awful quiet," Niall's voice broke my thoughts and I snapped back to reality. I turned to look at his flawless face. "Of course." I told him with a smile. The corner of his eyes crinkled as he smiled widely.

"So what are you doing today?" He asked, looking down at his snow covered shoes.

"I haven't got anything planned." I answered and at that exact moment my phone rang. I detached my hand from Niall's and dug my phone out of my back pocket. It was Melanie. I ignored the call and turned back to Niall. Melanie never called. She always texted. She must have spoken to one of the other boys and called me purposely with the intention of disturbing me.

"What about you? Have the boys got anything planned?" I said casually, shoving my phone back in my pocket.

"Not at the m-"

My phone cut him off as Melanie called for the second time. Suddenly Niall's rang too from his pocket. He fished it out.

"It's Harry," He told me. "Maybe it's something important?" He received a text moments later from Zayn. He frowned at the screen and suddenly tilted his head back and laughed. He showed me the screen.

*NIALLER & MEL SITTING IN A TREE K-I-S-S-I-N-G!*

"Lovely," I chuckled. "Aren't they simply overflowing with maturity?" My phone rang for a third time, and this time it was Harry calling me. I breathed deeply and answered.

"You had better have a good reason to be calling me, Harry." I threatened. Niall laughed. I heard a giggle and after that the line went dead. I pulled my phone away from my ear and hung up.

"He hung up on me!" I told Niall. My phone lit up again and it showed an incoming call from Melanie. Niall's phone rang for a second time. "Louis," He informed me, ignoring the call. I ignored the call from Meanie too.

*STOP CALLING!* I texted her. I waited for my phone to ring again, but neither mine or Niall's did.

"Let's keep walking," Niall chuckled, taking my hang back in his. We had walked far enough from the restaurant and so we turned around and made our way slowly back to my car.

"At least Liam isn't a part of –" My phone cut Niall off again and I pulled it out.

"Looks like you spoke to soon." I laughed, showing the incoming call that was from Liam. Niall's rang seconds later from Melanie. With a sigh, I answered my phone.

"You are such a Payne in the butt," I said. Liam's voice laughed through the phone and then the line went dead. "That's it, I'm turning my phone off," I told Niall.

0o0o0o0o0o0

We made it through the rest of our morning together without any disruptions. Around noon we decided to drive back to Lukas'. We walked in the front door, kicked our shoes off, said hi to his mom in the kitchen and made our way upstairs. I knocked lightly on Lukas' door and a voice yelled for me to come in. Niall and I entered the room and everyone burst out laughing. I rolled my eyes.

"Did you guys have fun?" Melanie called. I joined her on the couch, ignoring Harry's wolf whistles.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, turning my phone back on.

"My mom drove me here about an hour ago. By the way, thanks for telling me you went on a date with Niall," She sarcastically, lowering her voice towards the end.

"It wasn't a date," I whispered back, trying not to smile.

"Don't lie to me. So how was your date?" She said, leaning in.

"The waitress thought we were a couple," I said, looking up. Melanie's eyes lit up. "Really? Little old Bertha?" I nodded, my lips tugging into a grin.

"What are you girls whispering about over there?" Lukas called out. Melanie and I turned around. All of the boys were sitting at the other end of the room. Harry and Louis pretended to kiss.

"We're making plans for the rest of the break," I lied. I picked a heavy pillow up and launched it at Louis and Harry who broke apart and laughed.

"Oh, okay, because Niall was going to ask you to- ouff!" Zayn doubled over after Niall punched him in the lower region.

"What?" I asked, looking at Niall who shook his head. He looked a little pink in the cheeks.

"Nothing!" Zayn wheezed, clutching his bits. Harry and Liam roared with laughter. I turned to Melanie who simply shrugged and grinned.

"You know something I don't know," I accused.

"Maybe." She retorted with a grin. "But look at this." She said, shoving her phone in my face.

*Morning, gorgeous (:*

"Aww! That's so cute. I can't believe Zayn texted you that! So I'm assuming you guys are getting along rather well?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows.

"No better than you and Niall." She retorted. "But I was with him down in the kitchen earlier when Diane wasn't there and he was making a peanut butter toast and he put some on my nose and then tried to lick it off- Don't look at me like that, you make it look like we were filming a porno-"

"What about a porno?" Harry interrupted, coming over to the couch. "Scoot over, dear- now what were we talking about?" Harry had settled himself directly between Melanie and I and threw his arms around our shoulders.

"Tampons," Melanie said casually.

"Liar," Harry accused. "Anyways," He said loudly, causing the boys to turn in our direction. "Melissa, love, I was wondering if you'd like to go out to dinner with me tomorrow night? I made reservations at a lovely restaurant in the city. I even reserved us a hotel suite, if you know what I mean,"

I could hear Louis and Zayn snickering and when I turned to look Niall didn't seem to find it as funny as the others. I turned back to Harry who winked at me.

"Harry, dear, I'm afraid I already have plans." I informed him with a pat on the shoulder.

"Do you really?" He asked, twirling a strand of my hair around his long index finger. I nodded. "What are they?"

"I'm going to go visit someone," I said. I could feel Melanie's eyes on me as she realised what I was talking about.

"Is that person really more import-" Harry was cut off by Melanie's elbow in his ribs.

I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. I excused myself from the room and avoided everyone's eyes on the way out. I rushed to the bathroom, locked the door behind me and splashed my face with cool water. I choked back a sob and slid to the floor. Tomorrow was a very special person's birthd-

I jumped as someone knocked gently on the door.

"Melissa?" Niall asked softly.

"I-I'm fine." I said, blinking away the tears that threatened to fall.

"Can I come in?"

I shook my head and bit my knuckle, willing the tears away. I didn't need Niall to see me like this. "No." I choked out.

"Please? You don't even have to tell me what's bothering you if you don't want to." He insisted.

I sniffled and stood up on my shaky knees. I glanced in the mirror where my eyes were red even though I had managed not to cry and my cheeks were blotchy. "Give me a minute," I said. I took a deep calming breath and rinsed my face with water again. I patted my face dry with the towel, tucked away a few loose strands and unlocked the door. Niall was waiting, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. He looked up with concern in his eyes. Then, he pulled me into a hug, once again rubbing his hands in soothing circles on my back. I sank into the hug, wrapping me arms around his waist and I rested my head on his shoulder. "Thanks Niall," I whispered and he tightened his arms around me.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Niall's POV

I walked back to the room and closed the door behind me. Everyone turned to me, asking what was wrong and where Melissa was.

"She went home for a bit," I said, tucking my hands in my pockets. "She wasn't feeling too good. But hey, Zayn, come here for a minute," I said, nodding towards the door. Zayn followed me out into the hall where Melissa and I had been just moments earlier.

"Instead of letting the dinner reservations go to waste, why don't you ask Melanie out to dinner?" I said, shuffling my feet.

"Are you sure?" Zayn asked. "Maybe Melissa can change her plans with that other person."

"I'm sure. Go ahead and ask Melanie." I said, managing a smile.

"Thanks mate," Zayn said, clapping me on the back.

Zayn left back to the room but I remained rooted on the spot. I knew Melissa was hiding something. I heard her crying in the bathroom. She was too beautiful to cry. I wanted nothing more than to comfort her. She didn't want to talk about it. But if she didn't want to talk about it, the least I could do was be there for her. It really upset me that I couldn't do anything. I was also a little deflated about the fact that I wouldn't get the change to ask Melissa out to dinner like I had planned. I hoped that I'd get another chance. I've never felt like this towards someone before. I hated the fact that I was returning to the UK in 2 days.

I finally returned to the room where they were still talking about Melissa. Melanie tucked her phone away with a frown.

"Melissa's going back home in a few hours," She told me.

"But I thought she's on her way there now?"

"No, I mean our apartment. I think I'll go too."

I shot a glance at Zayn who had a hint of panic in his eyes. Melanie bid goodbye to everyone and left the room. Zayn bolted after her.

"What's up with him?" Lukas asked, pulling out a bag of chips from beneath a pile of clothes.

"He's going to ask Melanie out to dinner," I said.

"I thought you were going to ask Melissa out to dinner?" Liam said.

"Change of plans." I shrugged. Zayn came back in the room with a grin from ear to ear. "She said yeah," He informed us.

"Zayn's getting some." Louis whistled and Zayn hit him over the head. I laughed.

"Hey, thanks again," Zayn told me, clapping me on the back.

"Yeah," I said. But I couldn't get the fact that Melissa was leaving out of my head.

"Hey, boys, I've got an idea," Lukas said, tossing the bag of stale chips away. "Why don't we go out to celebrate your last night in Canada tomorrow night. Zayn, you and Melanie can meet us there after and then we can crash at my place in the city after. That way you guys can sleep in a little longer since we're not too far off from the airport."

"What about me?" Harry pouted.

"Who cares? You look old enough," Lukas laughed. Liam argued the fact that they could get in trouble if pictures circulated.

"Fine, then we'll just all go to my place and have a couple drinks. I can invite a few people over." Lukas suggested. Louis cheered loudly.

"Don't you live with Melanie and Melissa?" I asked.

"Yeah, but they won't mind. I don't think Melissa will be there for a while though, but she'll turn up later." He told me. "So who's in?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_**A/N; **__**Hey! Thanks to all those who reviewed! You're all amazing! Heres another chapter. It was awful to write. I had no idea where the middle to ending part came from. I managed to confuse the hell out of myself for future chapters. But I think I'll manage :) So, review? Mucho Gracias!**_

_**~GiveMeLovee**_


	13. Chapter 13

Forever Young Chapter 13

The moment I got home I nearly burst into tears, but with great difficulty, I didn't. I retreated to my room before any of my family could wonder what was up with me. But they wouldn't have to guess too hard. They would know about it too. So did Melanie. I suppose that's why Melanie didn't complain when I texted her to say I was going back to our apartment. She understood what I was going through. I collapsed on my bed and grabbed the closest thing to me and curled it up to my chest. It just happened to be Niall's sweater. I bit back a sob and flung his sweater away from me. I was sick and tired of having these mixed feelings. I wanted them to all go away. It was all Niall's fault. How do you fall for someone in 10 days?

My phone rang, disrupting my thoughts and I shifted my arm to reach for it.

"Hey Laura." I sniffled, attempting to hide the fact that I was still trying not to cry.

"Why are you crying?" She demanded.

"I'm not." I mumbled.

"Well then, what's wrong? You know what, I'm actually on my way over to your place now. I was just calling to make sure you were in. So I'll be there in 10 minutes or so, okay? Melanie wants me to pick her up and have a movie afternoon or something like that." I took a deep breath. Laura was normally the first person I knew I could go to for decent advice. Maybe it's time I filled her in on the details she wasn't aware of. Melanie too. "Okay." I answered.

"Alright, hang in there. We'll be over in a few. And don't cry." She said before we said goodbye.

When Melanie and Laura popped into my room nearly 20 minutes later I was still in the same place; on my bed with my legs crossed. Laura flung herself onto me nearly making us fall on the floor and she hugged me tightly. Melanie joined a second later and pet my hair, something she knew would annoy me on any other occasion but knew it would comfort me at the moment. Laura pulled back and sat up so that we were sitting, cross legged in a circle, knees touching.

"Your face is expressionless. What's going on?" Laura asked gently, patting my knee. I shrugged, pushing my hair back. "I don't know. Tomorrow… Tomorrow is- was her birthday. It's still hard." I said, picking at a loose thread on my sleeve. Laura's face fell into realization and she nodded. "Of course it is. That's completely understandable." She told me and Melanie nodded. "I was going to go visit her tomorrow, so I'm going to drive back to the city sometime after dinner."

"Do you want us to come with you? I'm free, unless it's something you'd rather do alone?" Laura said. I shook my head. "No, that sounds nice. If you don't mind." I added with a weak smile. "Of course we don't mind. We're here for you, okay? Don't ever forget that." Melanie said. "Yeah, remember when you were upset because you couldn't get those concert tickets and we drove to have a girls night?" Laura laughed. I let out an embarrassed laugh.

"It's crazy to think that a couple years ago my biggest problem was not being able to see Coldplay live in concert." I said. "Now I'm dealing with all of this, and on top of it all there's fricken Niall Horan-"

"Yes," Laura interrupted, "Do tell. Melanie was filling me in on the way over in the car but all I got was that you were being stubborn about telling him how you feel. I thought we agreed on the phone that you'd tell him." Laura said in a motherly tone. I wrinkled my nose. "I said I'd talk to him, not confess my love for him-" I was cut off by a loud gasp from Melanie. "You love him?" Laura burst into laughter.

"Oh dear lord, murder me now," I groaned, burying my face in my hands. "I don't love him, I was just attempting to state the fact that I did agree to talk to him and that technically I still have 2 days."

"But you will talk to him, won't you?" Laura said, eyeing me dangerously. I nodded slowly and then frowned. "Oh, look," Laura said. "There's a 'but' coming along." I glared at her. "Yes there's a 'but'! But what if it goes wrong and he rejects me. All this time, I've been trying not to think of the fact that he's famous and known worldwide and that he has loads of fans and girls who throw themselves at him. What if I make a fool of myself and throw myself at him like all the other girls? How am I any different from the other girls he sees every day? And what does that make me look like to him? Sure, I might never see him again after Sunday so yeah, make a fool of myself, it doesn't matter, I'll get over it, but I mean, is there really a point in telling him that I like him? Either way, he's leaving on Sunday and-"

"Shut up." Melanie said. I whirled around, dumbfounded. "W-what?"

"I said shut up." She repeated. "Listen to me. You're letting the fear of striking out stop you from playing the game, or however it goes, you know what I mean. You've got major feelings towards Niall and you'd be absolutely stupid to not do anything about them. Stop saying he's leaving on Sunday, because yes he is, but that doesn't mean that he's not coming back. Not to mention the fact that you're likely going to be moving to London when you get accepted to the R.A.M- Hold your squeals, Laura, since I'm assuming you didn't know- so there's a big chance that you guys could work something out. You're driving me nuts with all your insecurities! I don't care about those other girls in London and neither should you because they've got nothing on you. Laura, back me up!"

Laura squared her shoulders and continued. "Don't even pay attention to those other girls. You are gorgeous, okay? You outshine all of those girls. You've got an amazing personality that clearly Niall loves. The both of you have loads in common and you need to get over any insecurities you might have. I highly doubt that you're just another girl to him. So you need to pluck up the courage to talk to him. If it doesn't work out, then you can say you tried. But if not, you're going to be miserable knowing what you could have had. But honestly, Melissa, you're too special. He wouldn't let you go."

I let out the air I didn't know I was holding in and smiled. "Thanks girls. I feel better." I admitted. "So will you talk to him?" Laura asked. I nodded. "I promise. I'm scared because I really don't want to hear him reject me but at the same time I'd rather know at least."

"He'd be crazy to reject you. Just remember, we're here for you, okay?" Melanie said. I nodded and pulled them into a hug.

"How about we put on a movie?" I suggested.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The three of us curled up on the small sofa in my room and watched Shrek while munching on popcorn and Oreo cookies. Laura congratulated me on my application to University, knowing it was tough for me but I was glad that I had done it. After the movie I began packing the suitcase I had brought with me from my apartment.

"Hey girls, guess what." Melanie said, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, a wicked grin on her face.

"What?" I replied, folding a pair of socks.

"You have to guess!" Melanie said in exasperation. After Laura and I spent nearly 5 minutes guessing things at random she finally gave up and told us.  
>"Zayn asked me out to dinner tomorrow night." She grinned. "Really?" I gasped and she nodded.<p>

"Holy crap, my best friend is going on a date with Zayn Malik!" I cried, throwing a pair of balled up socks at Laura. "What was that for?" She yelped, throwing the socks back. "I don't know!" I laughed, pulling Melanie into a hug. In all the excitement of what Melanie was going to wear and which restaurant he was taking her to I couldn't help but wish that Niall had asked me too.

0o0o0o0o0o0 **Niall's POV**

I picked up a nacho, scooped up some salsa and shoved it on my mouth. We were sitting around the kitchen table eating the food Diane had prepared for us before she and her husband left to run some errands. I was scrolling on my mentions on Twitter when Lukas answered a call from Melissa. I stopped scrolling and listened to Lukas in hopes of picking up on their conversation. "Yeah, sure. Okay, see you in a few." He said and hung up.

"Is Melissa coming over?" Harry asked, dealing the deck of cards between the 6 of us. "Yeah, she's stopping by with Melanie and Laura to pick up Nicolas' guitar and then they're driving in to the city." He answered, popping a pepperoni from his pizza into his mouth. The boys all turned to me and I looked down and pretended to be uninterested. "Oh Nialler, don't pretend you don't care. You should ask her out on a double date with Zaynie and Melanie." Liam teased.

"Zayn doesn't seem too keen on the idea." I joked.

"I don't mind. If you want to, then I'm up for it." Zayn said. "Naw, it's fine, you kids have your fun." I insisted, eating another nacho. Zayn shrugged.

"Are you even going to tell her that you like her?" Lukas asked, sorting in his hands the cards he was dealt. I picked up my cards and looked through them, disappointed at the results. "Yeah, I suppose so." I answered. "When?" Louis asked. "Soon." I said just as the front door past the living room opened. "Do it now!"

"Hello?" Melanie called. "In here." Lukas called back and Melanie, Melissa and another girl entered the kitchen still wrapped in their coats and scarves. Melissa's eyes found mine and she smiled widely and waved. I grinned back. "You guys remember Laura, right?" Melissa said, gesturing to the third girl. We all said hello. "I'll go grab the guitar." Melanie said and she disappeared out of the kitchen with Zayn's eyes following her.

Melissa came around the table and leaned on the back of mine and Lukas's chair. "What are you boys playing?" She asked, peeking at Lukas's cards. "Get out of here!" He said, swatting her hand away when she reached for some fries on his plate. She pulled her hand back empty and pouted. "Here," I said, handing her a fry off my plate. A chorus of 'awww's filled the kitchen and she accepted the fry with a laugh and popped it into her mouth. "Look at Niall, sharing his food. Bless this day!" Louis cried. "This picture is going on twitter." Harry grinned, typing on his phone. I hadn't even noticed him take the picture. "Harry, don't you dare!" She laughed. "We can't even see you, its fine!" He insisted, shoving his phone back in his pocket before she could snatch it away. "Liar!" She accused. Melanie returned with the guitar tucked away in the case.

"Alright ladies, ready to hit the road?" She said, setting the case down on the floor.

"Yeah, but before you go, you don't mind if we have a few people over tomorrow night, do you?" Lukas asked, looking between Melanie and Melissa.

"What exactly do you mean by a few people, Lukas? Last time a few people turned out to be a lot more than just a few." Melissa said, folding her arms.

"Just a few." Lukas shrugged. "Please?" He added with a cheesy smile.

Melissa glanced at Melanie and they seemed to share a private conversation. Melissa pursed her lips in thought and I supressed the urge to get up and kiss her. She turned back to Lukas. "I suppose." She said finally. The boys let out a few whoops and thanked the girls with much excitement. "But I'm not paying for all the alcohol again." She said sternly. "We'll throw in some money, so don't you worry your pretty little face." Louis told her.

"Sounds good. So we're gonna head out now. We'll see you boys tomorrow night, okay?" Melanie said, picking up the guitar case. We all said goodbye and they headed towards the living room.

"Oh, Melanie!" Zayn called. She popped her head back in the kitchen. "Yeah?" She asked. "I'll pick you up at 7. Also, don't be afraid to dress up." He grinned. "Okay." She nodded and disappeared down the hall with a blush on her face. Zayn grinned eagerly.

In all the excitement of what Zayn taking Melanie out tomorrow night I couldn't help but wish that I could have taken Melissa too.

_**A/N;**__** Yo man! Leave a review? Please? Pretty please? **_

_**So, crappy chapter. This one is much shorter than what I've been posting for a while but I figured you guys would appreciate a chapter nonetheless. I have no idea where I'm writing from these days but it just sort of happens. Hopefully it doesn't clash with what I want to get at. Questions? Comments? LEAVE A REVIEW! I command you to! Also, a **__**massive**__** thanks to those who do take the time to review!**_

_**~GiveMeLovee**_

_**Ps. did anyone else watch Leeyum's twitcam the other night? Dawwh **_


	14. Chapter 14

Forever Young Chapter 14

"Alright, Cookie Monster, we're home." I huffed, setting down the wiggling cat basket. The moment I opened the latch she shot out and disappeared around the corner. "Hey, Mel, did we forget anything in the car?" I called over my shoulder to Melanie who was heaving the guitar case and her own suitcase up the last few stairs. I hated being on the 7th floor. Good exercise though. "No." She panted, dropping her suitcase on the floor. "Careful not to dent the floors!" I told her. Laura finally reached the top of the stairs and closed the front door behind her while trying to catch her breath. "Your apartment needs an elevator." She deadpanned. "It does, if we go through the main entrance." I told her with a laugh and she clicked her tongue in annoyance. I took the guitar case from her hands and she thanked me. I carried the case through the kitchen and into the hall.

Our apartment was simple, really. The front door led into our semi modern kitchen with the breakfast bar and sleek counters. Connected to the kitchen on the left was a small dining room that required going up two steps to reach. If you continued walking straight through the front door and past the kitchen you were in a hall that had 4 rooms. Mine, Melanie's, Lukas' and the last was a little smaller than the others and we kept it as a small workplace with a computer and my guitars and keyboard. At the end of the hall was a spacey bathroom and through another door was the laundry room. If you took a right at the end of the hall you were in our living room. Overall the apartment was extremely expensive but split 3 ways wasn't so bad. We each had small part time jobs but our parents still paid for a bit each rent. We were also lucky to all be going to the same school and living merely a few minutes away allowed us to save money on transportation fees.

I lie the guitar case down along with my others in the small room and returned to the kitchen for my suitcase. "We need to do some grocery shopping." Melanie told me while staring at the nearly empty fridge. "Alright, do you want to unpack now and go out after or go shopping first?" I asked, dragging my heavy suitcase out of the kitchen. "20 minutes?" Melanie called. "Okay." I hollered back and I stepped into my room.

My room was definitely the cleanest with Lukas' being the messiest. Melanie was always somewhere in between. Once again my room was simple. A kind sized bed was centered against the far wall with grey pillows and a black duvet. I had a desk on the right wall with 2 bookshelves full of my favorite books and on the other wall was my closet. There were a few plants here and there and a particularly large plant hanging down from the top of a black wardrobe in the corner of my room. With the dark hardwood floors my room was actually very nice. I pushed my suitcase through my room, too lazy to pick it up, and I threw open the doors of my closet and pushed my suitcase through. I'd deal with it later.

I went back into the kitchen for a glass of water and noticed Laura and Melanie scrolling through their phones from their identical perches on the counter. "Not unpacking either?" Melanie grinned. I shook my head. "Nah, let's head out now. We can pick up the alcohol too." I told her, grabbing my car keys. She hopped off the counter and opened up the far cupboard over the stove and grabbed the bills from our jar labeled 'groceries', something we filled at the beginning of each month. "I'm hungry." I frowned. "You're always hungry." Melanie laughed. "Just like Niall." Laura added with a wink.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The grocery shopping took a lot longer than usual because Lukas kept texting me asking me to pick up things at random. After we hauled out the grocery bags to my car we headed off to the liquor store.

"Party?" The cashier asked as he scanned 3 bottles of vodka. "Er.. yeah, just a few people." I answered, pulling out my debit card. He scanned 2 more bottles and several cases of beer before pressing enter and showing me the total amount. "Doesn't look like just a few people!" He said. He reached out for my card and I winced as he slid my card. 'Oh get over it, Melissa. The boys said they'll pay you back." Laura chucked as the man handed me my card and the receipt. "Fine." I grumbled, looking at the bottom of the receipt. We've spent this amount before but it was always split evenly on the spot. I've never had to pay almost $500 on my own. "Come on, let's go eat," Melanie said and she wheeled the cart out. "I call McDonalds!" Laura yelled after her.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

We dropped Laura off at her apartment a few streets down after we ate out and I parked in front of our apartment to use the elevator. I wasn't up for carrying 200 pounds of liquor up 7 flights of stairs. It took a few trips but we managed to bring everything up. Groceries went in the fridge and cupboards while Melanie stacked the alcohol in the closet in the hallway. Once done I collapsed in front of the television and pulled my phone out. I had missed a call from my mom and I had 2 texts. One from Lukas and another from Niall. Lukas' was pointless, telling me to pick up some Nutella. Niall's was a simple *hey*. I texted back with a *hello* and flicked through some channels. He texted back a few moments later asking if I was going to be at the party.

*Maybe after a while. I'll be there at some point though, I do live there :P* I replied.

*Alright, Lou wants to know how much you plan on spending for alcohol* He wrote back.

*We already bought it. Spent nearly $500*

We texted back and forth for about an hour or so and when Melanie was finally out of her shower I went in next.

I tend to think a lot in the shower. And so when I stepped under the hot stream of water my mind wandered away from Niall and my thought ventured towards tomorrow. I always remember her talking about wanting a big sweet 16 birthday party with all of her friends and our family. But some things change the course of the future and sadly she would never get her sweet 16. I remember it like it was yesterday. The details were so vivid in my mind. I used to wake up with nightmares every night. I still do sometimes, but more around this time of the year. February isn't a good month for me either. It's just so hard dealing with the guilt that only seems to get worse every year. A knock on the door disrupted my thoughts.

"Melissa, the creepy neighbor is here. He said something about babysitting his goldfish or something?" Melanie said. "His what? Fine, give me a minute, I'll be out." I called through the door of the shower. I quickly rinsed off and towel dried my hair the best I could, slipped into my underwear and black sweat pants and I threw on a baggy t-shirt before padding out into the kitchen thinking not too nice things about my neighbor.

0o0o0o0o0

As it turned out, our neighbor was leaving for a few days and asked me if I'd be able to keep an eye on his aquarium while he was away. He handed me a spare key after I agreed and I quickly ushered him out the door as politely as I could. Melanie snickered the moment I shut the door and we shared a weird look. It wasn't every day that I got asked to babysit 15 goldfish.

"Well, I'm going to go put my stuff away and then I'm heading to bed. Laura called while you were in the shower and she said she'd be here around 1 in the afternoon, unless you want another time?" Melanie said. I shook my head. "One is fine. Go ahead and sleep in tomorrow. I'm not doing much at all. I think I'm just going to go out tomorrow night and take a walk through the park for a bit. Other than that I think I'm staying home."

Like Melanie, I finally dealt with my suitcase, not wanting to have to do it tomorrow. I put the new books on the shelf that I had purchased with Niall when we had gone shopping, put away clean clothing and took the rest to the laundry room. At the bottom of my suitcase I came across Niall's sweater and I hung it over the bed post and made a mental note to return it before he left. Then I turned off my lights and curled up under the blankets. I checked my phone for any messages and I saw that I had one from Niall.

*Alright, see you tmrw. :) Sleep well Xx.*

*Goodnight xo.*

With a smile, I turned over and snuggled up to my pillows, falling asleep a few minutes later.

0o0o0o0o0

I don't know how long I lie in bed the next morning staring at the white ceiling. I just know that I was flipping through all my favorite memories where we were smiling and laughing. I hate that I'll never see her smile again. I finally dragged myself out of my bed and threw open the grey curtains to the window that overlooked the busy city street below me. I pulled my hair back and tied it in a sloppy bun. With my arms wrapped around me I sauntered out into the kitchen where Laura and Melanie were reading through the newspaper. "Hey." I said and they looked up and Laura greeted me. "Morning, sleeping beauty." Melanie teased. "You're no better, Melanie, you didn't get out of bed until I got here. Look at you, still in your pajamas." Laura said with a roll of her eyes.

"So? I made coffee. That's got to count for something, right? French Vanilla. It's on the counter, Melissa. And what does it matter if I'm still in my pajamas? I don't get dressed unless I'm going out." Melanie retorted.

I poured myself a cup of coffee and joined them at the dining table. "How're you feeling?" Melanie asked. I took a sip of my coffee and shrugged. "Alright." I mumbled.

"Well, Lukas called earlier but you were still asleep. He said something about coming over earlier to clean the apartment or something? They'll dirty the place more than clean it." Melanie told me. "Well if they want to attempt to clean the apartment then by all means, let them! Maybe for once Lukas will think twice before wearing his dirty shoes in the house if he has to scrub the floor clean." I said with a chuckle. While Melanie scanned the newspaper, Laura poured herself a cup of coffee and I called Lukas with the cordless phone.

"Afternoon," he answered.

"Hey. So what's this I hear about you wanting to clean the house?" I said.

"Yeah, er, Liam suggested we clean the house a little, unless you already did?" Lukas replied sounding hopeful.

"Nope. Dirty floors, dirty carpets, dirty kitty litter, dirty toilet, it's all waiting for you lads." I told him smugly. I heard him sigh.

"Alright, we'll be over in a few hours. Also, since Zayn can't drive, what do you suggest he does?" Lukas asked.

"Erm, well, hold on." I told him and I left the kitchen. "Okay, Melanie's not here now. Pass me Zayn for a moment," I told Lukas and Lukas called out for Zayn.

"Hey, Melissa?" Zayn asked.

"Yeah, it's me. So, either one of us can drive you to the restaurant, but in my opinion that's a little pathetic. So what I suggest is there a limo rental place here in the city. They have these nice black cars with the tinted windows and the whole shebang. It's a pretty fancy car and the driver takes you wherever you want as long as you remain within the city. And they aren't even that expensive for the night. I can call for you if you like and reserve one." I told him.

"You are amazing." Zayn told me.

"Of course I am. So I'll call you when I have some more information. Does this mean that you're getting ready here?" I asked.

"Er.. I haven't actually thought of that but I suppose I am."

"Alright, well I'll call you later and I'll see you tonight."

I took a few minutes to look up the limo rental place in the phone book and I called and made reservations for one of the cars beginning at 7 until midnight. I suppose that would give them enough time to eat dinner and maybe go for a ride after. I texted Zayn telling him that he had the car from 7 to midnight and I returned to the kitchen.

"What are you smiling about?" Melanie asked suspiciously.

"No reason. The boys are coming to clean in a few hours. Are you excited for your date?" I asked Melanie. She smiled widely.

"I'm nervous. I definitely like Zayn, but it's weird because of who he is. I'm really excited though. I don't know what I'm going to wear," She said wearily.

"Well let's go raid your closet, shall we?" I asked.

"Are you sure? I don't want the day to be focused on me. We're here for you after all." Melanie frowned. I nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be okay." I insisted. I needed to get my mind off everything for a while. Plus, I knew Melanie really wanted our opinion on everything.

"If you're sure?" Laura asked. "Yes! Now let's go." I said, tugging them to Melanie's room. I suddenly realised with a pang of guilt that I had never given Melanie the chance to talk to me about her and Zayn; I had always been too preoccupied with my situation with Niall.

0o0o0o0o0o0

The boys arrived a few hours later and while Laura helped Melanie do her hair locked away in Melanie's room I decided to instruct the boys around. I sent Harry and Louis off to clean the bathroom and they headed off to the bathroom with so much enthusiasm I was a bit suspicious. Since I really wanted Lukas to take care of the floors I had Zayn help him and Niall offered to wash some of the windows. Liam kindly helped me in the kitchen.

"This isn't very pleasant." Liam told me, wrinkling his nose. He dumped the 3 week old milk carton that I found in the back of the fridge down the sink while holding the container with the tip of his fingers. "Smells vile." He added.

"Every once and a while one of us will go to pull some leftovers out of the fridge and we'll open a container full of liquid mould. So no, it's not pleasant at all." I told him and he chuckled. I scrubbed the surface of the stove until no specks were present and Liam took care of the few dishes that had collected since yesterday. While we worked in a comfortable silence I thought about the possibility of a relationship with Niall. It was a scary thought firstly because it was Niall and he was known worldwide and secondly because I was always opposed to the idea of long distance relationships. I found them way too difficult. I've never had one, nor has any of my close friends had one but the thought of it sounded insanely complicated. I suppose they all start off fine but eventually jealousy arises, arguments begin and then everything slowly falls apart from there. Something popped up in my mind and I turned to Liam.

"You've got a girlfriend, right?" I asked bluntly.

"Yeah, Danielle." He told me. I could immediately tell that he was thinking of her as he let out a smile. I nodded thoughtfully.

"And if you don't mind me asking, how's that been?" I asked, hoping I wasn't asking questions that were too personal.

"It's great. I love her very much. Couldn't imagine me without her." He beamed.

"She must be very patient! Is it hard having a long distance relationship?"

Liam frowned. "Often it is, simply because I miss her a lot and I know she misses me too. But I call her every night before I go to bed, or before she goes to bed- depending on the time zone- and I text her a lot too. We manage to throw in a few Skype conversations too when the boys and I are away on tour."

"Does it bother her? I mean, your fame and having all the attention from girls." I rushed out. Liam raised an eyebrow and I had the feeling that he knew why I was so curious.

"No, I don't think so. She's very good with all of that. She's just got such an amazing, caring personality. We've never had any issues over that if that's what you're wondering." He told me as he scrubbed a plate clean.

"I… okay." I said, turning away from Liam. I could feel him looking at me as I scrubbed furiously at the clean countertops. "Is there something you want to talk about?" he asked slowly, sincerely. I shook my head.

In fact, I did want to talk to Liam. I found that Liam would be able to give me the best advice, or even if he couldn't, I felt as though he would be the best listener. Liam was just a very warm and comforting person. I was almost positive that he wouldn't bring it back to the boys and that he'd keep this between us. "Actually, Liam, I w-"

"LOU! GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!" Harry shouted and a second later he bolted into the kitchen with his hands securely covering his curls. Louis followed seconds after laughing madly while clutching the dripping toilet brush in his hands. "Lou!" I gasped, reaching forward to take the toilet brush from his hands. "Look, you've gotten the floor all wet! Lukas won't be pleased. He just washed the floors." I scolded and I made my way down the hallway to return the brush with Louis and Harry close behind me.

"Look how well we've done!" Harry exclaimed, looking eagerly over my shoulder as I inspected the bathroom. No grime on the shower walls. No toothpaste specks on the faucet knobs. Spotless mirror… They actually managed to clean the bathroom quite well. "Well boys, I didn't think you could do it." I admitted as I turned the lights off and made my way to the kitchen. The boys cried out in victory and gave each other childish high fives.

I returned to wiping down the counters and I moved on to the dining table with the realization that my talk with Liam wouldn't happen any time soon with Harry and Louis dividing his attention elsewhere. With a sigh I sat down and looked out the window. I wasn't sure how long I was sitting there for but eventually Lukas called my name from the breakfast bar and asked me what was for dinner. I turned around and realized that all of the boys were done cleaning and had gathered around the island in the middle of the kitchen.

"Erm, I don't know. I don't really want to cook." I told Lukas and he nodded. He knew what today was and so I knew he was trying to make me feel better when he offered to make diner. "As long as you don't poison me." I replied with a soft smile. I left the kitchen, no longer wanting to be around the rowdy boys and I could feel Niall's eyes following me out the doorway. I nearly went and isolated myself in my room to think but I knew that once I entered that state I would stay as such for a while. So instead, I went to check on Melanie and Laura's progress.

0o0o0o0o0o0

"How do I look?" Melanie asked nervously, turning slowly. I took a deep breath and smiled proudly. God, she was absolutely beautiful.

Laura had worked wonders in her thick hair and how it sat, half up, half down in curls that cascaded over her right shoulder. Because of her paler skin (due to the fact that it was winter) she had gone with a lighter peach colored dress that came mid-thigh, had a plunging V-neck and had sleeves that came just above the elbow. She had borrowed my favorite pair of black pumps that gave her the advantage of a few inches and wore a silver jewelry. Her make-up was simple yet effective; light eyeliner and mascara that intensified the length of her eyelashes, a cream colored eye shadow and a soft pink lip gloss.

"You look stunning, Mel." I grinned and I pulled her into a hug.

"Gorgeous," Laura nodded. "Zayn's definitely going to stare."

Melanie grinned widely and picked up the sparkly clutch she was using for the night that container her phone, her lip gloss and a few dollars. "I'm nervous!" She admitted excitedly.

"That's perfectly normal." I replied, tucking a stray strand of hair into one of the many pins hidden in her hair.

"For all you know, you could be all over tumblr by midnight." Laura winked and it seemed as though up until that moment, Melanie forgot that she was going on a date with _Zayn Malik_ from One Direction. Panic flooded her eyes. "Hey, shh, don't worry, it's fine. It's no big deal! He's still the same Zayn and you're still the same Melanie." I said comfortingly. A knock on the door startled all three of us and we spun around to face Melanie's door. I walked up to the door and cracked it open an inch. "Hey, Nialler." I said and his face broke into a grin at the use of his nickname. "Is Melanie ready? The car is here." He told me. I turned back and looked at Melanie. She nodded nervously and made her way towards the door, ready to go. I stepped out of the way and opened the door. Niall eyes immediately left me to look at Melanie and he gave her a 'once over'. "You look nice." He commented and looked back at me. Nice? That was all she got? She looked fricken gorgeous! And yet he'd rather look at someone still in their pajamas who spent the half the day sleeping and the other half cleaning.

I felt a spark within me and I grinned and followed Melanie into the kitchen, Niall close behind me. Had I entered 2 seconds late I would have missed Zayn nearly choke on his glass of water and spill it down his front. He swore loudly and quickly wiped away the water that hadn't already been soaked up by the black button up shirt he was wearing. Then he stood there gaping at Melanie while she shifted uncomfortably. Harry was the first to break the silence as he burst into laughter. Zayn blushed beet red. "You l-look really nice," He stuttered and Melanie let out a shy grin and thanked him. What surprised me the most was the fact that Melanie was shy! Very little made Melanie quiet. She must really like Zayn! Zayn helped Melanie put on the knee-length coat she pulled from her closet and after he had shrugged his jacket on, they bid us goodbye and left the apartment. Simultaneously, the 6 of us remaining shot to the large window my the dining table that overlooked the street below. Harry and Louis pressed their faces against the glass and looked down as Melanie and Zayn exited the building 7 floors below. Niall came up beside me and placed his right arm around the small of my back, his fingers hugging my hip and he peered over Liam's shoulders trying to get a view too. Without realizing that I had, I leaned into Niall's frame and he paused and looked over at me.

"Hey." He grinned.

"Hey." I smiled. It was almost like our second where it was so quick that I had wondered if it even happened or if it had been my imagination but while everyone had their noses pressed against the glass Niall bent down and placed his lips against mine and pulled back. A grin spread over his face and he had that distinct look of a child who had just gotten away with something forbidden. My neck felt hot and butterflies erupted in my stomach and I wished that his lips had lingered just a little longer…

We jumped apart when Louis shouted just seconds later. "Who's ready to party?" Oh, Louis…

_**A/N;**__** This chapter goes to the anon who told me to get my priorities straight! XD So, longer chapter than what I've been posting the past few so... Yay? I've got a decision to make. So, if you've read all the chapters (…which I'm assuming you have…) then you know that from Melissa's constant repeating, the boys are leaving on Sunday. In the story it is Saturday, meaning that they are leaving back to the UK within the next 2-3 chapters. Of course this isn't the end of the story. It could be! Dun, dun duuunnnn. But it's not. There's definitely more to the story but it's up to you guys as to whether I should keep posting here or start posting chapters as Part 2, as in a new story? It's entirely up to you guys. If not, I'll make a decision myself. Anyways, review? Please? :D You'll get kisses from Wayne, Ian, Hughey, Barry and Kyle! Btw, sorry, I don't really spend 3 hours rereading and correcting everything I wrote. I'm simply too lazy. So I apologize for spelling errors and such. **_

_**~GiveMeLovee**_


	15. Chapter 15

Forever young chapter 15

While Lukas, Louis, Harry and Liam went to retrieve the alcohol from the hallway closet Niall hesitated to follow.

"Coming?" he asked holding his hand out to me. I shook my head and Laura quietly left the kitchen with a knowing look. "Why not?" he asked, stepping towards me. I let out a soft sigh as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to his chest. I looked up into his questioning eyes and I almost forgot what I was going to say.

"I'm going for a walk." I told him, tracing the pattern on his shirt. He cocked his head to the side.

"But it's cold out. And dark." he frowned. "Want me to come?"

Once again I shook my head. "Laura is coming. We'll be alright." Niall didn't seemed too reassured.

"I wish you wouldn't go." he said, tilting my head up. He searched my eyes sadly and I could tell he was dying to know what had been bothering me these past days. Though however much it was bothering him he didn't ask. Instead he brought his face to mine and my breath hitched in my throat. His lips brushed mine lightly not quite kissing me but not teasing either. More like letting me know that he'd be here for me when I got back. Butterflies erupted within me and I reached my hands around his shoulders to rest at the nape of his neck. He pulled away, glancing in my eyes once more before he nuzzled his face in the crook of my neck, sponging a kiss on the sensitive sink. Then with a sigh he took a step back. "Promise to call me if anything-"

I cut him off with my lips and gave him a reassuring kiss and he gripped my hand tightly wanting more. As much as I craved it, it would have to wait. I had something else that I needed to do first. I allowed my lips to linger for a few seconds before I reluctantly pulled away. "Don't worry about me, I'll be back in an hour or two. Just have fun." I told him.

From the hall, Liam called him loudly and he turned but didn't move. "Go, Niall," I said with an encouraging smile. He nodded and with a smile that revealed his braces he turned and pursued Liam's voice.

As Niall went to help the boys carry bottles of liquor and cases of beer to the kitchen I retreated to my room to get dressed after spending a day in my pajamas. Laura was sprawled across my bed, her legs swinging lightly as she texted someone. "When are you going to go?" she asked and I told her that we could go as soon as I got dressed. If it weren't for the fact that I was returning to a party afterwards I would have likely worn pants and a sweatshirt but I opted for dark skinny jeans instead and a loose cream colored long sleeved top.

"Ready to go?" Laura asked, hopping off my bed. I grabbed a pair of socks, a $20 and my phone and nodded. I hopped into the kitchen while in the process of putting my mismatched socks on and I froze. My entire kitchen counters were covered in a variety of alcohol. Much more than Melanie, Laura and I had bought. Over on the dining table sat different foods, chips and soft drinks. And more alcohol. The boys have definitely gone overboard which was quite understandable when there was unlimited money.

"Lukas..." I called wearily. I heard him yell "coming!" from the living room and he ran down the hall and slid in his socks across the kitchen floor, skidding to a halt before me. Not taking my eyes off the alcohol I pointed to the counter.

"Exactly how many people did you invite?" I asked, finally turning to Lukas in bisbelief. We've thrown some pretty decent parties before but there has never been this much alcohol mostly because everybody mostly usually brought their own. Lukas scratched at the back of his head. "Erm..."

I held my hand up, cutting him off. "Never mind, I don't want to know. Just remember who's cleaning up." I said, giving him a look. "And it anyone vomits on my sofa you're dead and that's a promise."

Lukas seemed genuinely alarmed and Laura laughed loudly. The rest of the boys made it into the kitchen and Louis came up next to me and put his arm around my shoulder, pulling me against his side. Niall eyed his arm, watching closely as Louis wrapped a strand of my wavy hair around his finger. I bit back a grin.

"Don't you worry your pretty little face." he told me. "We've got everything under control, isn't that right, Hazza?"

I supressed a snort with great difficulty. Liam, however, didn't. The boys all rolled their eyes at Liam. He turned to me and mouthed "I'll watch them. "Even with Liam being responsible I wasn't too sure about leaving the party unsupervised. At least I'll be home before any real damage can be done. "Behave." I said before grabbing my coat and following Laura out the door.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Despite the gnawing feeling in me all day I managed to avoid thinking about what today was. I felt guilty. Horribly guilty. I felt as though I had ignored her, like she wasn't even there. But she was. I never stopped thinking about her. How could I?

As Laura and I walked silently down the busy street sadness washed over me in constant waves, only getting stronger with every step.

This was normally something that was done as a family but this was the first time that I was doing it without them and I felt weak, like I could tumblr any second. Even though Laura was with me and I was surrounded by people on the sidewalk I felt that horrible and familiar sense of abandonment and loneliness.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The graveyard was eerily quiet and empty when Laura and I got there. I could tell that this made Laura uncomfortable and I felt even guiltier by dragging her around but I couldn't bring myself to tell her that it was okay if she left because it wasn't.

We made our way across the path and we ventured deeper as a soft snow began to fall. I always felt unwelcome, like it was my fault that I even had to come here. Up ahead I could see it. The gravestone. As I neared it I became instantly numb to everything around me. The cold wind that only moments ago bit at my face, my frozen finger tips, the sound of the snow under my feet; they all meant nothing.

I stood before the polished black marble gravestone and took note of the bouquet of roses laying across the base. My parents had already come and gone.

I stared numbly before me where my happiness died and at the moment I couldn't help but wish that I had been the one 6 feet under. My eyes read over the words engraved on the stone and my eyes welled up. My throat welled up and I choked out a sob.

_~Emily Neil~  
>January 7<em>_th __1996- February 10__th__ 2009_

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_**A/N;**__** OMG, WHAAAAT? **_

_**Review? :3**_

_**~GiveMeLovee**_


	16. Chapter 16

_**Warning;**__** Things get **__**slightly**__** heated at some point towards the end. But barely. No need to worry. I just figured I'd put a teensy warning. Enjoy!**_

Forever Young Chapter 16

It was nearly 11:30 when Laura and I made it back to my apartment, much longer than I had anticipated. I had been smart to not wear makeup. I really did look like a mess.

"You don't have to go, you know. I'm sure they'll understand." Laura told me as we climbed the stairs. I nodded. "I know they would but… but it's their last night here. I want to be there with them." I told her. She nodded and wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulder.

Though tonight wasn't exactly the night I would have chosen for a party considering what the date was, it could very well be the last night that I'd ever see the boys again, especially Niall. All I knew was that tonight I had to tell Niall how I felt or, like Melanie and Laura said, I might regret it in the future with what could have been. In the beginning I had doubted any real feeling that Niall might have had towards me but as we neared the end of the time we had together it was like we were desperately trying to tell one another what we were feeling. At this point, after getting to know Niall more, I was sure that he wasn't the type to play with a girl. This allowed me to feel a little more reassured but the whole confession thing was nerve wracking. I certainly haven't got any experience with all of this. I've had small, very small, relationships before but none could compare to what Niall and I had… or didn't have.

We neared my floor and I could already hear the pounding of music through the walls. Thank goodness my neighbor was gone for the weekend. I pitied our neighbors below us. But they too occasionally had parties that lasted entire nights so they couldn't complain too much.

"Sounds like a big party." Laura commented as we neared my door.

"Well it can't be that bad. Lukas said he only invited a fe-"

What Lukas thought was a few people was more like 100 or probably more. As the front door swung open allowing the music to blare into the hall there were so many people in the kitchen and as far as I could see that I was sure I wouldn't be able to get through without ploughing people aside. There were people in every corner of the room all supporting either red plastic cups or beer bottles, all jumping up and down or dancing wildly. With this many people in the apartment there was surely going to be damage in the morning. I heard a bottle shatter somewhere in the crowd and I winced.

"Oh, Lukas is dead." Laura laughed excitedly as she followed me through the house. I knew there was nothing I could do at the moment, I wasn't about to ruin the party, not at all, but I would make sure Lukas knew I wasn't pleased with him. "Excuse me." I said impatiently, squeezing past a group of pretty girls I've never seen before.

I reached the hall and stormed into my room to put my coat away and I gasped. There on my bed were two people kissing but what shocked me the most was the familiar blonde hair of-

"Niall?" I choked out and Laura froze behind me. The girl peered over his shoulder and gave me a dirty look. "We've busy." She snapped and I took a step back in shock.

"Melissa?" Niall said and I whirled around to see him standing there, red in the face from his obvious consumption of alcohol. My heart relaxed. It wasn't Niall. Niall was before me wobbling dangerously with a beer in his hand. I turned back to the couple on my bed and I was torn between apologizing for walking in on them and telling them to get the hell out of my room. With a roll of my eyes at the girl I backed out of my own room, slamming the door on the way out.

."You're back!" he smiled, pulling me into a warming hug.

"Niall, how much have you drank?" I asked. He reeked of alcohol.

"Just one." He slurred, placing a sloppy kiss on my cheek. I noticed the group of pretty girls looking at Niall and I and I didn't resist Niall when he pulled me down the hall towards the source of the music. Did these people even realize that they were partying with One Direction?

"Niall! I'm such a huge fan! Can I have a picture?" A girl said, stepping in front of us. I guess some people did. Niall agreed but seemed reluctant to let me go. I slipped out from under his arm and stood to the side while several girls posed with him. He was so drunk. What would the boy's management say when pictures of them completely hammered appear all over the internet? They couldn't get in too much trouble. As long as Harry wasn't drinking, seeing as he was still undera-

"Melissa, babe!" Harry shouted from the end of the hall and he clumsily pushed past people before launching himself at me. I nearly lost my balance as he wrapped his arms around me, spilling his beer on both me and him in the process.

"Harry! For god sakes, stand up properly! You can't expect me to hold you up!" I grunted as he leaned too far into the hug. He pulled back and thrust his beer in my hand. Oh dear lord. He was even worse than Niall.

"Here, have my beer. You look angry. Why are you angry?" He asked with a childish pout. I looked around for help but Laura seemed to have disappeared.

"Harry, dear, no more, okay?" I said, taking him by the upper arm and steering him towards the living room leaving Niall behind with more girls.

"But why? I'm having fun! You need to have fun too. It's our last night in Canada, you know? We've had loads of fun with you, Melanie and Lukas. I bet Melanie and Zayn are-"

Where the hell was Liam? And why wouldn't Harry shut up? What happened to watching over the boys? I hoped Louis wasn't this bad. Louis was definitely wild at Lukas' last party and I just hoped he wasn't like that again tonight. I made it into the living room where there seemed to be even more people than any other room in the house. I spotted Lukas, Louis and Liam sitting on the largest of the 3 black sofas and Lukas waved at me. Louis looked up and waved me over laughing hysterically at the fact that Harry had turned to flirt with a very bulky, mean looking girl. With a shrug I left him there. Maybe he'll think next time he drinks if he's humiliated enough this time. I squeezed onto the sofa between Lukas and another good looking guy.

Both Lukas and Louis weren't as drunk as the other 2 boys but they were definitely getting there. Louis could barely focus his eyes on me "Cool party, eh?" Lukas grinned. I bit my tongue sourly and his grin disappeared. "Okay, I know that there are a few more people than I said but I promise I'll clean up everything and pay for all the damages, just don't be mad." He pleaded. His lower lip slid into a pout and several girls nearby 'aw'd. There were definitely going to be loads of damages and messes in the morning but Lukas usually stayed true to his word. I sighed in defeat and grinned, shaking my head at him.

"Lukas, the things I do for you. You're forgiven for now." I told him and he let out a whoop. Louis cheered and handed me a half empty bottle of tequila. I pushed it away and shook my head again. "No, I'm not drinking tonight. Someone has to be the good, responsible host."

"Liam was doing a great job! Just look at him! He's been drinking Pepsi all night, the poor lad. Just have some fun." Louis said, shoving the bottle in my hand. Liam gave me a wink, showing me a can of Pepsi in his hand. Louis suddenly began to chant 'drink!' and within a few seconds everyone in the room was turned to me, cheering for me to drink.

Lukas leaned in and spoke so that no one but I could hear. "Come on, Mel, you deserve a night off. Just relax for a while. It's been a stressful day for you and you've been dealing with a lot lately. Just have a few drinks." Lukas told me. I hesitated but decided that a few drinks wouldn't hurt me.

"I hate you, Boo Bear" I yelled over the noise before lifting the bottle to my mouth for a long swig. As the liquid left a burning trail down my throat and pooled into my belly I decided that perhaps tonight wasn't that bad of a night to have a party. Across the room Niall blew me a very cheesy kiss.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

I was drunk. Definitely drunk. I closed the door behind me and stepped towards the mirror in my now vacant bedroom and grinned at my reflection. I definitely looked the part. My jeans had a wet spot on them from where Laura spilled her drink on me while we were dancing 10 minutes ago. I had managed to apply makeup after a few beers and my wavy hair was in a slightly messier state than usual, giving it that distinct look of 'sex hair', much like Louis always had. And by now it was past 2am. Some people started passing out in the house. Normally I would have been kicking them out and telling them to go home but I couldn't care at this point. I was happy.

"Melissa, you're so… pretty." Niall slurred and he came up behind me, his eyes half closed. I spun around and grinned. "No I'm not!" I retorted, finishing the rest of my beer. His eyes shot open and he smirked. "Yes, yes you are." And then he wrapped his arms around my waist and started to hum a very familiar tune. I blushed deeply and nuzzled my face in the crook of his neck. He placed a kiss on my temple and began to sing softly. I shivered; his voice was so soothing as he sing out the melody.

"Baby you light up my world like nobody else, the way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed and when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell…You don't know you're beautiful and that's what makes you beautiful. Melissa, you're beautiful"

"Niall, stop, I'm not!" I moaned and he laughed loudly, tugging me over to my bed. He tripped on his own feet and fell to the bed, pulling me into his lap.

"You really are beautiful, did you know that?" he said and he kissed the tip of my nose.

"I don't really think so." I murmured, looking into his eyes.

"How can I prove to you that you are?" He pouted, leaning in. My heart beat sped up and I closed my eyes, leaning in searching for his lips. The door behind me opened and I pulled back.

"Melissa, I don't feel too good." Harry mumbled, swaying heavily in the doorway.

"Don't throw up in my room." I told him, not moving from Niall's lap. I just wished Harry would go away so Niall and I could get back to what we were doing before. Niall placed a kiss on my jaw and another on my neck causing my cheeks to flush.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Harry said and his face paled.

With a groan I leaped off Niall's lap and grabbed Harry by the upper arm, dragging him out of my room. Niall protested lightly but didn't follow us into the bathroom. I closed the door behind me and turned to Harry. Harry paused in front of the toilet and looked almost confused for a moment before he bent over and threw up loudly into the toilet. I cringed away as Harry collapsed onto his knees, his head still in the toilet. I took a deep breath in attempt to clear some of the alcohol from my head and I made my way over to Harry who coughed loudly and spilled more alcohol into the toilet. I rubbed soothing circles on the back of his damp t-shirt while attempting not to gag. After a few minutes he pulled away and slumped exhausted against the bathroom counter.

"I'll go get you some water." I said, handing him the hand towel to wipe his face. He nodded, his eyes closed and I left the bathroom. When I returned with a tall glass of water and a beer for myself Harry was once again bent over the toilet.

"How much did you drink?" I asked when he pulled away the second time. He simply shook his head. I reached forward and dabbed at the sweat on his face with the hand towel. "Well, here, rinse your mouth." I said, handing him the glass. He washed out his mouth and spit it out in the toilet. Just as he leaned his head back against the wall he lurched forward to throw up a third time.

"Jesus, we're going to be here forever." I murmured, rubbing his back again. I sat with my back against the bathtub and waited for him to finish. He rinsed his mouth again and crawled over to me. Then, in a child-like manner he curled up on the ground with his head in my lap.

"I'm sorry." He said softly.

"Don't be sorry. It's happened to all of us." I told him, smoothing his hair back.

"No, not about that." He said, shaking his head lightly. I cocked my head to the side.

"What do you mean?" I asked, reaching for my beer.

"About your sister." He mumbled. I froze.

"Who told you about my sister?" I whispered in shock.

"Don't get mad, okay? Melanie did. I promised I wouldn't tell anyone and I haven't."

I remained silent. If it weren't for the alcohol I'm sure I'd be quite angry at Melanie and Harry but looking down at the boy half asleep in my lap I couldn't bring myself to feel angry towards him. And by the intensity of Harry's slurring I was almost sure he wouldn't even remember any of this in the morning.

"Thank you. For not telling anyone, I mean." I said and he peaked an eye open.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked and I shook my head. "Okay." He said and closed his eyes again.

It was another minute or so when Harry spoke again.

"Niall likes you, you know." He said. "Never shuts up about you."

"Really?" I asked, amused. Harry nodded and yawned.

"But don't tell Melissa. It's a secret. Shh,"

Harry could very well be joking about this but if he wasn't then where did that leave Niall and I? If I confessed to him that I liked him what would we do? Agree that a long distance relationship wouldn't work with us because of Niall's career? Would Niall eventually move on and forget about me? Would there be another girl out there better for him?

It took me a second to realize that Harry had fallen asleep in my lap. I shook his shoulder lightly and he stirred lightly. "Come on, where are you sleeping?" I asked.

"Your bed." He said, managing a smirk. I rolled my eyes. It was a lot harder than I expected but I managed to tug Harry up from the ground. With my toe I flushed the mess Harry left in the toilet, grabbed my beer and left the washroom.

I dragged him into the living room where there was no longer music playing and I noticed the clock read 2:47am. By now most people have left and few had passed out. I didn't even know the people asleep in my living room. None of the boys were in sight but I found Laura curled up on the edge of my bed. Dragging Harry around the house was extremely tiring so I dumped him onto my bed next to Laura. Laura stirred and sat up looking confused.

"What time is it?" She asked, patting down her messy hair.

"Nearly 3." I told her and she stood and stretched. She was still a little wobbly but she said that she was going home.

"Don't walk, okay? I'll call a taxi for you." I told her as she left the room. I turned back to Harry and threw the covers over him.

"No!" he moaned loudly, kicking them off. "I sleep naked." He mumbled, sitting up.

"Not in my bed, you don't." I told him. But no matter what I said, I couldn't stop him from pulling his pants and t-shirt off. He curled up under the blankets in his Calvin Klein boxers. Well it was better than nothing.

"Don't throw up in my bed." I said, ruffling his hair before turning off the lights and closing the door behind me. As I finished my beer I realized that I hadn't even thought of where I was going to sleep now that Harry was in my bed.

I made my way into the kitchen where Laura hung up the phone. "I called a taxi. I'm going to go wait downstairs." She said tiredly, pulling her coat on.

"Alright, bye. Be careful." I told her and she left. I turned and saw several people sitting around the dining table. Louis, Liam, Lukas, Melanie, Zayn, and Niall were all seated, talking quietly. I grabbed another beer and sat next to Melanie. While Louis and Liam were busy retelling Zayn tonight's interesting events I leaned over to Melanie who was still wearing her dress.

"How was it?" I whispered. She didn't answer right away. I could have sworn I caught adoration in her eyes when she glanced at Zayn but in my current state I couldn't be sure.

"It was really nice." She replied. "He took me to that expensive restaurant downtown, you know the one across the theater, and then we drove to the other side of town and walked down that path along the river. I'm surprised he even knew of it." She told me. I could tell that she was tired but through her tiredness I could also tell that she and Zayn had spent a lovely night together.

"So what's going on between the two of you?" I asked, taking a drink of my beer.

"We talked about it down by the river. He said he likes me but that he wants to wait a while before we go any further." She told me, taking my bottle from my hands and taking a drink. What surprised me was that she didn't even seem that bothered by the fact that they had decided to wait on anything they might have. Was it really that simple? "Oh, did you talk to Niall?" She whispered, nodding to Niall who was nearly asleep in his chair.

"Erm, no. I was going to about an hour ago but Harry got sick. So now Harry's asleep in my room. I don't know where I'm going to sleep. There are random strangers asleep in the living room so if you don't mind, I'll be crashing with you." I told her. She gave me a look.

"You're not avoiding talking to Niall, are you?" She asked.

"I… don't think so?" I said slowly, reaching for my beer but Melanie held it out of my reach. "Hey!" I protested.

"You don't need any more. It's 3 in the morning. The boys have to be at the airport in 7 hours. Go sober up." She instructed.

"Yeah, I'm falling asleep." Lukas yawned, draining the last of his drink.

"Where is everyone sleeping?" Liam asked.

"Well, Harry seems to have claimed my bed so one can fit there, or maybe two. And someone can share with Lukas. I have a couch in my room that flips open into a bed so two more can go in there." I said, rubbing my eyes tiredly. Zayn came around the table and gave Melanie a hug goodnight and a kiss on the cheek before retreating to Lukas' room where the boys stored their entire luggage. I grinned at Melanie who flushed darkly.

"I'll sleep with Harry." Louis smirked and he bounded off to my room. Melanie retreated down to her room and Liam, after much debating, slipped into Lukas' room with a wave goodnight. I turned to Niall who was asleep with his face pressed against the table. I padded over to him and shook his shoulder lightly.

"Wake up, Nialler." I said softly and his eyelids fluttered open. He stretched, stood up and pulled me into a hug.

"I don't want to leave." He mumbled, gripping my waist with his hands. My heart fluttered when he placed a kiss on my jaw.

"I don't want you to leave." I told him, bringing my arms up around his neck.

He looked into my eyes so deeply that for a second I felt uncomfortable, like he could see into my thoughts. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine.

"Any specific reason?" He murmured. I bit my lip.

"Maybe." I said and I let my arms fall. "But maybe we can talk tomorrow? I'd like to clean up a bit."

Niall seemed slightly disappointed but offered to help me. After much arguing of me telling him to get some sleep he won and we spent the next half an hour picking up beer bottles and cups. As I was turning off all the lights in the house I was tempted to kick the people in my living room out but I figured I'd let them crash for a little longer. When I decided that enough cleaning had been done I insisted that Niall get some sleep.

"Come on, you boys have to be at the airport in like 6 hours. Get some sleep." I insisted, pulling him by his hand to my room. Louis was snoring loudly from my bed and I quietly set up the sofa in the dark, pulling the bed out while Niall went to change in Lukas' room. He came back in a pair of black sweatpants and nothing else. I grinned shyly and turned away.

"Something wrong?" He asked with a hint of amusement in his eyes. He walked over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist and I traced my finger across his smooth chest. He leaned in to kiss me in the dark and I sighed, leaning into his frame.

He backed up until his knees hit the mattress and he pulled me down on the bed with him. He didn't give me any time to get comfortable. Instead he hovered over me and kissed me lightly. It started off slowly but quickly escalated into much more. I reached up with my hands and buried them in his messy hair and pulled his body down on mine as he kissed me roughly, passionately. He grabbed my shoulders and in one swift movement he rolled us over so that I was on top. Without breaking the kiss I straddled his waist and bit at his lower lip. He let out a moan and I clapped my hand over his mouth. We looked over at my bed at Harry and Louis' silhouette. They were still sleeping.

"Shh, Nialler." I whispered before kissing him again. He grabbed my waist tightly and without even realizing it I pressed back into him.

"Melissa." He panted and I pulled back.

I looked down at him as I tried to catch my breath. I could feel my face flushing deeply in the dark and I rolled off him. I stared at the ceiling for a moment before Niall rolled over to me and rested on his elbows. I turned to face him. I knew that if I didn't talk to him now then I never would.

"Niall," I began. How was I supposed to say this? What if I made a fool out of myself? Jesus, Melissa, just do it! "Niall, I… I really like you." I said and I turned away. I didn't want to see his face when he told me that he didn't like me like that. As the silence went on I grew more and more worried and I was tempted to just get up and leave when Niall placed a hand on my shoulder and forced me to turn over and face him. I was prepared to see his face in shock but instead he had a wide, tired smile on his face.

"I like you too, Melissa." He said and he inched forward to kiss me again. As I kissed him back my brain was spinning like crazy. I just told Niall that I liked him and he told me that he liked me too. I felt as though the entire weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders.

"I like you a lot." He whispered against my lips.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_**A/N; **__**Wow, I seriously feel like my story sucks! I wouldn't still be writing it if people didn't actually like it. I feel like it's so unorganised! :s **_

_**Anyways! Yes, Emily is/was Melissa's younger sister. I won't be revealing more until later though. So Melissa and Niall confessed that they like each other but under the influence of alcohol… So what does this mean? And the boys leave in the morning! Where does that leave Melissa and Niall? Or Melanie and Zayn? Leave a review? Mucho gracias to all those who always review! You guys are really amazing :D**_

_**~GiveMeLovee**_


	17. Chapter 17

Forever Young Chapter 17

I woke up to someone gently shaking my shoulder. Rolling away from Niall who was snoring lightly I turned and peered through my eyelashes at the figure above me. To say Harry looked awful was an understatement. His curls had gone wild, sticking up in odd angles and his face was paler than it had been last night. He looked hung over, especially still wearing the clothing he wore last night. Was that dried vomit on his wrinkled shirt?

"Sorry to wake you but I was looking for the towels and I can't find any." He said tiredly, sounding quite miserable.

I sat up, the duvet falling to my waist and I looked around me. Louis was still asleep in my bed, sprawled across the bed diagonally among several pillows with my cat which I found surprising because she hated Louis. I dug my phone out of my pocket where it had spent the night and it showed me that it was nearly 7am which meant that I had barely gotten 2 hours of sleep. It also meant that the boys needed to be at the airport in approximately 3 hours where they would meet up with members of their management. My eyes burned from the sheer lack of sleep and I flopped back down into the mattress.

"Alright, I'll be up in 5 minutes." I mumbled, pulling the blanket over my head. I heard Harry leave the room and Niall stirred lightly next to me, rolling over onto his stomach with his arm resting across my lower back. He didn't say anything so I assumed he was still sleeping.

I thought about what had happened last night. Upon coming home from visiting my sister's grave I started drinking and didn't stop. I remembered Harry flirting with every female at the party then being sick in the bathroom and eventually passing out in my bed. I remember Louis trying and failing to get Liam to do shots with us. I remembered Zayn and Melanie coming back and telling me about her date with Zayn. But most of all, I remember Niall, his warm lips caressing my own. I remember his soft, soothing voice as he sang to me. I remember his telling me I was beautiful while I sat there and stared at his flawless features thinking he must be blind to call me beautiful. I remember that sense of happiness when I was with him. But something was missing. Yes, I could feel it.

"Melissa?" Niall said, his raspy morning voice breaking the silence. He twisted onto his side and ducked under the covers with me. "Morning." He murmured, stretching. He carefully wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his bare chest. A smile crept to my face and be leaned in, pressing a kiss on my lips. He pulled back and grinned, his eyes wrinkling in the corners. That was new. I mean, we've definitely kissed before but this was different. He seemed happier, more confident and less shy like usual when he kissed me, almost like he knew I wanted him to do it… almost as if he knew…

That's when it hit me.

_*Flashback*_

"_I really like you, Niall." I whispered, avoiding his eyes. _

"_I like you too, a lot." He told me. He stared at me for a moment before hesitantly kissing me. He kissed me carefully, gently compared to the kiss we had shared barely minutes ago. It didn't last long and he pulled away too soon to my liking. My head was spinning and I suddenly wished I hadn't drunk as much. Lying down, he pulled me towards him, wrapping his arms around me. _

"_What now?" He asked softly, stroking my hair. _

"_I don't know." I whispered. "You're leaving tomorrow." _

"_But I'll be back. This isn't the last time you'll see me. We're travelling to the US in February and it's not that far from here. We'll be there for Harold's birthday." He said, pulling the blanket over us. "If I asked you to, would you come visit me in New York?"_

_Swallowing the painful lump in my throat, I nodded. I couldn't find my voice to talk. Moments ago, it seemed too easy. I thought I'd feel better once I told Niall I liked him but none of the worries left. They were still there, buzzing around my head stronger than ever. And Niall was talking so easily about the future. He wanted me to come see him? He actually wanted to keep in touch once he and the boys left? I suppose that was reassuring. _

"_Why me?" I asked, suddenly. _

"_What do you mean?" He asked, still playing with my hair._

"_Out of all the girls, why me? There are so many more funny, intelligent, beautiful girls out there, so why me?" _

_His hands fell from my hair and he tilted my head so that I faced him. _

"_I don't want them." He said as though it was the easiest question in the world._

"_But you could have anyone you wanted, yet you chose me. I'm messed up, Niall. I have problems." _

"_We all have problems, love. We just need to find the right person who can accept them and I'm hoping you'll give me a chance. I don't want another girl, Melissa. I want you."_

_*End Flashback*_

"Something wrong? It's my morning breath, isn't it?" Niall grimaced, sitting up.

I let out a soft laugh and shook my head. "No, I was just thinking."

"About?"

"About… last night." I admitted, slipping out of the bed. I stretched, my joints popping and turned around to look at Niall. He crawled forward and stood in front of me.

"I mean everything I said last night." He told me, taking my hand in his. "You're different from other girls. They're unimportant compared to you." He grinned.

Smiling shyly, I snaked my arms around his waist and hugged him.

"Oh, get a room." Louis' muffled voice mumbled.

"Where do you think we are?" I retorted, pulling away from the hug.

"I don't know if you guys want to eat or not." I said and Louis groaned from the bed.

"Make pancakes." He said, rolling out of the bed and landing in a heap of blankets on the floor. I rolled my eyes at his silliness.

I shot one last smile at Niall before I left the room, pulling my messy hair into a bun on the way. I retrieved several thick, fluffy towels from the hallway closet and placed them on the bathroom counter for the boys to use when they got around to showering. I padded out into the hallway of the silent apartment and peeked into the living room. There were still 3 people asleep on the sofa and a lot of cleaning up to do.

I managed to wake up the people and let them use the washroom before Harry went in. They departed 10 minutes later and I slowly made my way through the quiet house picking up bottles, cups, and other garbage. Niall came out a few minutes later wearing a sweater over his bare chest and he quickly swept the floors while I cleared the kitchen enough to make some food for the boys before they left.

Niall hopped into the shower when Harry emerged and I abandoned the pancake mix to go wake the other boys. Tiptoeing into Lukas' room I took notice that his curtains left the room really dark compared to mine. Liam and Zayn were asleep, half on top each other, on the small sofa in Lukas' room while Lukas had the entire bed to himself.

"Liam, Zayn, time to wake up. We've got to leave in a little under 2 hours." I said, gently shaking Zayn's shoulder.

Watching Liam, I decided that I had never seen someone wake up so easily in my life. His eyes opened slowly and he looked around for a second before standing from the sofa, stretching, before immediately picking his clothing off the ground and folding it into his overflowing suitcase. Zayn, however, shrugged my hand off his shoulder and grumbled.

"Zayn, come on, get up." I said. He shook his head and Liam chuckled.

"Just leave him. He'll get up eventually." Liam told me, throwing a shirt into his suitcase.

Hoping Liam was right I moved onto Lukas and shoved him roughly.

"Wake up." I grinned. Lukas and I were always really mean to each other when we woke each other up. He swore at me, burrowing deeper into his blanket and I made my way over to the curtains and threw them open so that the sun shone brightly into the room.

Zayn winced and cried out, blocking the light from his face and Liam cringed away from the light.

"You're awful!" Zayn said yet he still didn't get up. I left the room with a grin and moved onto Melanie's room.

I crawled under the blankets with her and she stirred.

"Are you coming to the airport with us?" I whispered. She nodded.

"What time is it?" She mumbled, stretching.

"Just past 8," I told her.

"Leave me alone." She moaned, pulling a pillow over her face.

"Hey, don't complain. I barely got 2 hours of sleep." I laughed, getting out of her bed. For good measure, in one swift movement I tugged her blanket off her bed.

"You're dead!" She yelled as I bolted from the room.

I ran out into the hall and stopped in my tracks. Niall was at the end of the hall talking to Harry but what caught my attention (how could it not?) was the fact that Niall was only wearing a pair of beige pants. His chest was bare and I took note of his fit body. His hair was also still wet and I saw a drop fall onto his chest and roll down his body before he wiped it away. Suddenly he looked up and locked eyes with me and smiled, completely oblivious to the fact that I was staring at his naked chest.

"Hey." He said and turned back to Harry. I struggled to hold back my blush and I walked towards them.

"Something wrong?" I asked, noting their tone of voice.

"No," Harry said. "Just that management called Lou a few minutes ago and they needed the address. They're sending 2 vans for us at quarter to 10 so we need to be ready to go by then."

"Alright, well Lou wanted pancakes so whenever you're ready to eat." I said, walking past them into the kitchen.

With 6 people still to shower and less than 2 hours to feed everyone and go the house was a hectic mess. Liam, thankfully, showered quickly while Niall and Harry ate and as they left to make sure everything was packed Louis and Zayn argued over who got the shower next while in that time Lukas snuck in. Between feeding everyone and cleaning what I could my mind was spinning like crazy. Thank goodness I didn't have a hangover. Though it seemed as there was too much going on at the moment for everything to truly sink into my mind I was worrying about what would happen once the boys would leave. There were only 20 minutes left before we had to be out the door when Melanie took the dish rag from my hands and instructed me to go shower.

I showered quickly and pulled on a pair of black jeans and a faded dark blue t-shirt. I returned to my room to apply a small amount of makeup before we had to leave and I came in to see that Niall had tucked the bed back into the sofa and was now finishing making my bed.

"Thanks." I smiled and I tossed my dirty clothing in the basket.

"Yeah, no problem. Hey, is this my sweater?" He asked, picking up the blue hoodie from my bed post.

"Actually, it is. I meant to put it there to remind myself to give it back to you. You left it at my house a few days ago and I brought it with me." I said, applying eyeliner. "It's really warm."

"Are you sure you weren't going to keep it for yourself?" He teased. I smiled weakly and he frowned. Walking over to me he took the eyeliner from my hand and put it on the burrow.

"You don't need any makeup. You're fine the way you are." He told me and he hugged me tightly.

I suddenly felt very emotional which was odd for me. But what bothered me the most was that ever since Niall came into my life I was feeling things I had never felt before. I definitely liked him but this whole situation was messing me up. I haven't been able to go more than a minute this morning without thinking of how I'll cope when he leaves on his flight in an hour or if he finds another girl while on tour and suddenly I'm no longer any importance to him. Damn it, of all the guys to fall for I had to go and fall for one who's famous. I definitely don't regret it. I just wish the circumstances had been different.

"Niall, come into the kitchen for a second." Liam said, popping his head in my room. Niall unwrapped his arms from me, gave me a sad smile and followed Liam out of the room. I turned back to my mirror and took a deep breath. This was going to be harder than I thought. I pulled my damp hair to the side and braided it. I nearly jumped when I heard a loud shout in the kitchen. Niall came bounding into my room with a big grin on his face.

"Guess what?" He said excitedly.

"What?" I asked, worriedly.

"Our flight's been postponed until 7pm which means that we have-" he stuck his fingers out and quickly counted under his breath. "-10 more hours before we have to leave."

I felt a burst of happiness in me for the first time this morning and launched myself at Niall.

"That's great!" I said and he hugged me back.

"You know what? Let's go for a walk." He said brightly, tugging my hand out of the room. He pulled me into the kitchen where all the boys were laughing at something Lukas said.

"We're going for a walk." Niall told them, pulling his coat on. "We'll see you later." He shouted, tugging me out the door, ignoring the boy's suggestive whistles.

"Nice day, isn't it?" Niall smiled, looking up at the bright sky once we exited the building.

"It sure is." I grinned as he slid his hand into mine and pulled me onto the sidewalk.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

We spent the entire morning and a good part of the afternoon walking around the city. Niall seemed to want to see everything which I thought was rather cute. We ate lunch at a small restaurant and continued making our way through the city. We entered a park at some point and Niall pulled his phone out wanting to take a picture of the squirrels bounding in the snow.

"Look at that one! It just shoved an entire acorn in its mouth!" Niall laughed, pointing to a squirrel that disappeared up a tree.

"Niall, it's just a squirrel." I laughed and he gasped.

"You're ruining my fun." He accused playfully and wrapped an arm around me. Suddenly he began to tickle my side and I let out a shriek, capturing the attention of several people around us.

"Niall, stop!" I said, attempting to shove him away.

"Only if you give me a kiss." He retorted, still tickling me. My heart jumped in my chest.

"No, we're in public!" I hissed, holding back a laugh. I squirmed in his hold.

"No one's watching!" He insisted and he dove in and planted a kiss on the corner of my mouth. "See, that wasn't so bad." He laughed and he let his arms drop from my side.

"You don't take No well for an answer, do you?" I grinned, blushing. He shook his head proudly.

"Come on, let's keep walking. That old couple doesn't look too happy." Niall snickered, taking my hand in his.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

When we made it back I was surprised to find the apartment clean, like Lukas had promised. They had even cleaned up after breakfast. Niall and I made our way to the living room where Liam, Lukas, Zayn, Melanie, Louis and Harry were sitting around the coffee table playing a game of Monopoly.

"Why do I have to pay you?" Louis whined to Harry. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Because I own that. See? The green houses are mine. Pay up, Tommo." Harry grinned holding his hand out. Louis slapped it away and stuck his tongue out before handing over several bills of money.

"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in." Harry said, looking up at us with a sly grin. "Don't check twitter, by the way. I may, or I may have not posted a picture of the pair of you asleep this morning." He winked and Niall froze beside me.

"Liar." I accused, plopping down on the sofa next to him. He exchanged a mischievous look with Louis and I suddenly wasn't so sure. I looked up at Niall who was already scrolling through his phone and he suddenly laughed. Everyone else laughed, already knowing what the picture was.

"You're an idiot, Harry." He said, showing me his phone that had a picture of him last night dancing on the coffee table. The caption read 'Nialler's having a little too much fun.'

"Hey, be nice. I could have posted something worse." Harry grinned.

The 8 of us enjoyed the rest of the afternoon by playing silly board games. Around 5:30pm we ordered several pizza and munched on those while watching America's Funniest Home Videos. But it seemed like time had suddenly sped up and all too soon two large white vans pulled up in front of the apartment and the boys hauled their overflowing luggage to the elevator. I grabbed my car keys and followed Melanie and Lukas out the door. In the elevator Niall silently reached out for my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. I didn't feel reassured.

An argument broke out between Niall and one of the two drivers. The boys were all supposed to arrive together in the vans but Niall wanted to go in the car with me. I stood by with the boys and watched as Niall began to get frustrated. Zayn eventually stepped in and took Niall's side, insisting that Niall would make it to the airport at the same time as the rest of the boys. It was weird. I had actually never seen Niall get frustrated. He was always the cheerful one who laughed at everything. I could tell by the other boy's reactions that it didn't happen often. Eventually the driver reluctantly agreed and the boys began piling into the car. Luckily they allowed Lukas and Melanie too since there was room in the van. I watched as Melanie and Zayn climbed into the backseat, talking and laughing softly and I envied Melanie and how she was able to deal with all of this so easily. I could tell that both her and Zayn were slightly quieter than usual and for once we could actually see that they liked each other compared to the rest of the boy's time here when we never saw it.

The rest of the boys climbed into the van, Lukas included, while the drivers loaded the 5 suitcases in the second van.

"Come on, let's go." Niall said and he took my hand and let me to my car. The drive to the airport wasn't pleasant. We tried to talk, we really did but the conversation died almost as quickly as it had started. So instead we sat in silence, my hand resting in his. As we arrived to the airport we were slightly later than the others who had already unloaded the suitcases and were waiting inside with people who I assumed were their management.

I stood by with Melanie while the boys checked in their bags.

"You look like you're going to cry." Melanie said, wrapping an arm around me.

"No." I said with a false smile.

"Did you end up telling him?" She asked. I nodded. She nodded too, not knowing what to say afterwards.

Niall came back to me and Melanie walked over to Lukas, Harry and Liam.

"Come on, we've still got some time. Want a coffee?" he asked, nodding to the Starbucks further in the airport. I nodded and attempted a smile but I could tell Niall was unconvinced.

We made our way to Starbucks and everyone followed. While waiting in line some fans who had noticed them asked for pictures and autographs and I turned my face away not wanting to be caught in the photos that would surely appear on tumblr tomorrow. After Niall signed several autographs he ordered two identical coffees for us and we sat down on a bench across the Starbucks.

"What's your Skype?" he asked, pulling his phone out. I was aware of the fans snapping pictures of us as I typed my Skype name into his notes.

"Do you go on often?" I asked, managing the first sentence since we arrived at the airport.

"Yeah, I Skype with my family and friends in Mullingar." He told me, waving at the fans.

A member of their management interrupted us and insisted that it was time to get in line at security. When we arrived Louis was the first to give me a hug saying that he would text me a joke every day. Harry gave me a hug followed by Zayn who then went off and have a long hug to Melanie. Liam hugged me next.

"If ever you want to talk about something, I'm here for you, okay? Don't be shy to text me." He said low enough for only me to hear. I nodded and actually smiled.

"Thanks, Liam." I whispered and he released me.

Niall who had patiently waited his turn hugged me last.

"I'm going to miss your cooking." He told me. "But I'll miss you more."

I let out a weak chuckle and behind us one of the adults told Niall to hurry up.

"I'll miss you too." I whispered.

"Don't feel sad." Niall murmured.

"How can I not?" I responded and he tilted his head and kissed my cheek lightly. I blushed, knowing everyone was watching.

"Because this is only the beginning." He said and with one last kiss, this time full on the mouth he pulled away and smiled softly. I stood back and watched as he got in line next to Louis while Melanie and Lukas made their way over to me.

"Come on, let's go." Melanie said gently, taking my arm. My eyes remained locked with Niall's until he disappeared in the line of people.

As the three of us silently made our way out of the airport and to my car I felt a sudden sense of loss. The feeling of abandonment washed over me much like it had when Emily had died. As I pulled onto the road I knew that the moment I was alone I wouldn't be able to hold back any tears and I was quite right.

The moment we returned home I retreated to my room. I grabbed a pair of sweats and a shirt but I noticed something on my bed and I walked towards it. It was Niall's sweater, the one I had worn when he forgot it at my house. On it was a folded note. I reached out to it with my shaking hand and read it.

_I figured you liked this sweater  
>Niall Xx.<em>

My throat swelled and my nose burned painfully as my eyes welled up. I dropped the note and with my clothes in my hands I left my room, brushing past a concerned looking Melanie. After locking myself in the bathroom I started up the shower while biting back tears. The water was scorching hot when I stepped in and I attempted to calm myself and breath but I couldn't. I just couldn't. And I didn't want to. I felt too weak to hold back anymore. Sinking to the floor I choked out a sob. As the water poured down on me I cried. My chest tightened with a sensation of overwhelming emotions. I felt lost, empty. Niall was gone.

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_**A/N; **__**WOOHOO! Part 1 is complete! Well, it's only part 1 if I decide to continue the story as another new story. But I don't know yet! I haven't decided. You guys will know once I get the next chapter up if I'm continuing here or starting a new story!  
>I don't think I've ever written so much in my life! I usually end up abandoning stories but your reviews keep me posting. I think I'll celebrate with a piece of cheese. …I don't know why I just wrote that… awkward…<br>So, leave a review! I sincerely appreciate ever single review I get! I'm going to start replying to all reviews from now on so if you've got any questions go ahead and throw them in there. Also, I know they're not that big of a part in this story but should Melanie and Zayn get together? I mean, it seems unoriginal that the best friends both date the band members. Let me know your thoughts!  
>Just letting you guys know that even though it's gonna suck, I'm going to be throwing in a couple Niall POV while they're apart O:<strong>_

_**~GiveMeLovee**_


	18. Chapter 18

Forever Young Chapter 18

_**Niall's POV (Wednesday afternoon)**_

"You alright?" Louis asked, plopping down next to me on the sofa. I shrugged, tapping my fingers on the arm of the sofa. He offered me some of his pizza but I shook my head, staring straight ahead at the awful painting on the wall. Louis sighed.

"Just give it time, mate. Maybe she's just busy." Louis said. Once again I shrugged. Off at the other end of the room I could see Harry and Zayn observing me but I couldn't be bothered to acknowledge them.

3 days. It's been 3 days since I last saw Melissa. 3 days since I last spoke to her. She hasn't replied to any of my texts. She hasn't replied to any of the other boy's texts. Had I done something wrong? She seemed devastated when we left. I was too, but I figured someone had to be strong. No matter how much I didn't want to believe it, I had a horrible gut feeling that she was purposely ignoring me. It was tearing me apart.

"I don't know what to say, Niall. Just give her time. I'm sure this is hard for her too. She'll come around." Louis said. I glanced down at my phone down in my lap and disappointment filled me. I had been constantly checking my phone, hoping she'd answer me but each time was the same.

"Thanks," I muttered and I got up and left the sitting area. I could feel everyone's eves on me as I walked away. Walking down the hall past the room where our meeting would take place this afternoon, I made my way into the vacant bathroom. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror and grimaced.

I tried not to show how much this bothered me at the beginning but at this point I didn't even care. The boys were constantly trying to cheer me up and get me to eat but I was uninterested. All I could think about was what I could have done for Melissa to not want to talk to me anymore? Was she simply no longer interested? Was I not worth it?

How had I managed to fall so hard for someone in such little time?

_**Melissa's POV **_

It took several days before I was able to collect myself properly. I felt ashamed that I had been so upset that I had remained in my room all of Monday simply staring at the ceiling. Tuesday I had managed to drag myself out of bed for a shower before going to school where I ignored everyone. I had to refrain myself from snapping at loads of people half the time and crying the other half. So many people came to see me, mostly girls, about One Direction. It was frustrating really. I spent most of the day on my own, avoiding people if I could. Every time someone mentioned them (and it seemed as though _everyone_ knew them by now) I would feel even worse. Then, instead of catching up on work I missed Monday I hit the gym and worked myself to exhaustion trying to tire the emotion out of me. It worked temporarily.

It was Wednesday before I picked up my phone for the first time since Sunday night. I scrolled through my texts to find that most of them were from the boys. Niall had sent me 3 Sunday night and 2 Monday morning before he gave up. Louis, as promised, sent me a joke every morning but today's included an "Are you alive?"

Zayn had sent me a 'hey' but that was it. Harry however was very persistent in his texting and I was surprised he had enough time to text me as often as he did. After the first few he must have realized too that I wasn't replying and so most of them afterwards were just Harry keeping me updated on what was going on. The more interesting ones would have made me laugh if I weren't so upset.

_**Monday 5:38pm *Louis poured cold coffee on my head -.- why won't you talk to meee? Don't you love me D:*  
>Tuesday 9:42 am *there was a guy the interview digging for gold*<br>Tuesday 6:12 pm *I really want to do the cinnamon challenge :o Boo says I can't do it*  
>Wednesday 6:09 am *I saw pictures of you and lover boy on tumblr. You're tumblah famous*<strong>_

At that moment, I wondered how the boys viewed whatever Niall and I had going on. Were they accepting of it? But then with a bitter laugh I remembered that there was nothing going on between Niall and I and I had likely ruined any chances with what I just did.

Glad that I didn't have to attend any classes until later this afternoon I silently walked out into the kitchen with my phone. I sat at the dining table and tucked my legs beneath me as I read over Niall's texts again.

_**Sunday 9:27pm *Hey, I'm bored. When did you want to Skype? Week? Weekend? 5 hour difference now tho :p Miss you already*  
>Sunday 10:04pm *Alright, I'm assuming you fell asleep. Goodnight :)*<br>Sunday 10:07pm *Lou says goodnight. And Harry. And Zayn and Liam. -.-*  
>Monday 6:02am *Morning :) im tireddd : Its 11 in the morning here. Jetlagggg*  
>Monday 2:27pm *is everything alright?*<strong>_

I felt the guilt wash over me again. I had purposely ignored not only Niall but Harry, Louis, Zayn, Liam and even Melanie and Lukas because I was upset. I had completely shut everyone out. It was completely selfish of me to hurt those around me. It was not the first time either. When I had lost Emily I had shut myself down for several months. I had given up music, family, and friends. My relationship with those around me quickly faded. Melanie, however, had always stuck around and been there for me. At that point, more guilt washed over me. I snapped at Melanie Monday morning when she had come to wake me. I would definitely apologize though at the moment both Melanie and Lukas were at their morning courses. It was noon, so maybe they would be back soon unless they ate out.

I looked out the window at the bright blue sky and my heart sank. I had completely alienated myself from everyone. I felt childish that I had done such an infantile thing. I took a deep breath and made a tough decision. As much as I wished I could lock myself in my room forever, I simply could not do that. No matter how upset I would be or how much pain I was in I decided that I would not hurt those around me again like I had in the past. I started with Niall. After writing a message and erasing it multiple times I went with something simple.

_***hey Nialler***_

I placed my phone down on the mahogany table and waited patiently for a reply.

It didn't come.

Though I knew there was a good chance he and the boys were busy with work I couldn't help but feel like he was purposely ignoring me in return. Had I really ruined this? I began to worry even more. I had begun tapping my fingers softly on the table when the front door opened and Melanie came in, pulling her sunglasses off. Her eyes rested on me.

"Hey, you." She said in her usual happy tone. She dropped her schoolbag onto the floor next to the door, kicked off her wet shoes and shrugged off her winter coat.

"Hey." I said, looking down at my hands in my lap.

"Feeling better?" She asked, making a beeline to the fridge.

I nodded and cleared my throat. "Sorry for snapping at you the other morning." I mumbled, twirling my phone between my fingers.

"Don't worry about it, it's alright." She said, pulling out a container of leftovers from the bottom shelf.

"No, Melanie, it's not alright! I've been ignoring you for two days. It is certainly _not_ okay, 'kay?" I said weakly.

Melanie abandoned her food and sat next to me at the table. She observed me carefully before she spoke.

"Melissa, everyone slips up. You're my best friend, and I was completely aware of what I was signing up for years ago. We've been through so much together I'm sure I can let one little accident slip up. Though I may not understand your exact situation, I can certainly relate to it." She said, eyeing me. "I understand that you're upset, okay? This definitely isn't going to be easy, no one said it would be but we're not looking at the impossible here. No one expects you to be emotionless; you're not made of stone. I'm sure Niall was upset too. Some people just deal with it differently."

She placed her hand on mine and patted it. She had come to know me so well and I was thankful that she was my best friend. She really did know me well. I didn't even need to tell her what left me in this state.

"Let's take this one step at a time, okay?" She said.

"Okay," I said with a shaky breath. "What's the first step?"

"Well," She said, standing and returning to her food. "You can start with texting Niall back." She said over her shoulder. I glanced at my phone and my heart leaped in my chest when I saw that Niall had indeed replied back.

I picked up my phone and ready over the text several times.

_***Hey you! What took so long to reply?***_

Did he suspect that I had ignored him? What do I do? Make up an excuse? Tell the truth? Telling him I locked myself in my room for a whole day didn't sound like a very good idea. I figured I'd go with the partial truth.

_***im sorry :/ I wasn't feeling very well the past few days. forgive me?***_

He replied almost instantly.

_**Niall *always. So, what's up?"**_

_**Melissa *(: not too much, I have 2 classes this afternoon. Boo :/ but your life is MUCH more interesting than mine, so what have I missed?***_

_**Niall *Funny you mention that. Our trip came up in an interview yesterday. They wanted to know all about Canada***_

_**Melissa *did you tell them how awesome Canada is? All that maple syrup, poutine and Tim Horton's. Mmmm***_

_**Niall *Of course! But they were more interested in something else… or rather someone else***_

_**Melissa *Who?***_

_**Niall *you***_

Me? Why on earth would they be interested in me? I was nobody compared to the boys. I replied back.

_**Melissa *Did they ask you why you were wandering around with a buffalo?***_

_**Niall *Buffalo? I think not! You're insecure, don't know what for… okay, ill stop :p actually, they asked me who you were***_

_**Melissa *What did you say?***_

_**Niall *See for yourself. The interview is on youtube***_

_**Melissa *Tell meeee!***_

_**Niall *Nope :) so im sitting in an important meeting w/ management &the boys. I have no clue what's going on***_

_**Melissa *Maybe I should go and let you concentrate…? ;)***_

_**Niall *You're way more interesting***_

_**Melissa *how is a buffalo interesting?***_

_**Niall *YOU ARE NOT A BUFFALO! Youre beautiful :D***_

_***You always were a bad liar ;p (kidding)***_

He didn't reply for nearly two minutes and I debated on whether showering or not seeing as I had one yesterday afternoon. My phone vibrated in my hand and I looked down.

_**Niall *Melissa! I, Niall Horan, demand that you text the handsome, sexy, delicious Harry Styles, also known as 'Mr. Sexy' right now. Ps, this is NOT Harry. I promise***_

I snorted. Of _course _it wasn't Harry.

_**Melissa *Niall! I didn't know you thought so fondly of Harry!***_

_**Niall *haha jealous? Harry misses you. You're the only person with enough patients to put up with him :p***_

_**Melissa *Do I have a reason to be jealous :o?**_

_**Niall *Never :) though as much as i'd love to talk to you more I've been caught so I have to go for now. Ill text you as soon as I can :) btw H still wants you to text him after***_

_**Melissa *Okay, I will :) bye***_

I set my phone down and smiled. I felt loads better. It was like I had never ignored him. I had cleared things up with Melanie (who had disappeared from the kitchen). I hadn't exactly cleared things up with Niall but we were talking again and that was what mattered to me. Niall was just too adorable. But sadly his vision is impaired if he thinks I'm beautiful.

Texting Niall wasn't the same as having him here in person but for now it was as good as it would get. Melanie re-entered the kitchen.

"Lessons are in 45 minutes." She said, eyeing me with amusement. I nodded, not quite comprehending her. I was still thinking about Niall.

"I'm guessing you feel much, _much_ better?" She grinned.

"Yeah, actually I do." I smiled.

Maybe, just maybe this could actually work.

_**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**_

_**A/N;**__** Hey guies! So I've decided to continue posting here. I just want to say a MASSIVE thank you to all those who reviewed! (How familiar does that sound? :P) You guys are truly amazing! I'm sorry if I missed any reviews to reply to.  
>So! Here's the next chapter. I'm just going to specify something. The exact date of this chapter is set in January. Wednesday January 11<strong>__**th**__** 2012 to be exact. I didn't plan out the dates really well when I started writing but the party that Lukas had was actually a new year's eve party even though its technically on the wrong day. It also means that tomorrow (in the story, Jan 12) is Zayn's birthday which also means that they will be partying it uppp.**_

_**This chapter is a bit shorter than usual but I hope you all enjoyed it :) I apologize for all grammar/spelling mistakes. I don't take much time to correct my writing.**_

_**Leave a review :D**_

_**~GiveMeLovee**_


	19. Chapter 19

Forever Young Chapter 19

**_Disclaimer_**- **_I own nothing. But really, is there any point to a disclaimer? Lol.  
><em>****  
><strong>

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I had spent most of the afternoon with my eyes glued to my phone texting mostly Niall and Harry. Now it was time to make dinner and Lukas had asked me specifically for pasta. I had enough trouble getting the sauce right but both Harry and Niall seemed determined to distract me. Melanie too, apparently.

"Melissa, check this video out. I think it's the one Niall was telling you about." Melanie said, placing her laptop on the counter next to the cutting board.

"Melanie, not now, I'm cooking dinner." I told her, turning to the stove to stir the sauce. But suddenly my head was clouded with the interview Niall said I had been mentioned in.

"Are you sure?" She sang and I let out a long sigh before putting the spoon down on the counter. I turned to her and she smirked.

"Fine." I told her and she angled the screen and beckoned me closer. "But if dinner is ruined then I blame it entirely on you."

I moved next to her and my eyes quickly scanned the title of the video- My eyes snapped back to the beginning and I reread the title. "No…" I managed in disbelief. "No, no, no…"

_**Niall Horan admits to having girlfriend? **_

"_Alright, so I'm sitting here with One Direction and we're about to find out exactly where they went when they disappeared off the map! Hello boys." The interviewer said facing all 5 of the boys lined up on a red couch. _

"_Hello Ray." They chorused back. _

My god, looking at Niall sitting at the very end of the couch wearing a fitted white t-shirt my chest suddenly leaped once before it was left with a dull ache and a sense of longing. He looked absolutely precious, his ever blue eyes crinkled as he shared a grin with Harry. Wait, focus!

_So you boys just returned from a 2 week long trip to Canada, correct?" The interviewer asked as he took a peek at his paper. _

"_Yeah, Montreal to be exact." Louis answered and the boys nodded._

"_Any particular reason? There weren't any performances or gigs, were there? Zayn, you flew out to Canada last year for a few days, didn't you?" He continued. _

_Zayn leaned forward, resting both elbows on his knees and linking his fingers together. "Yeah, I've got a bit of family over there." He answered into the microphone Harry was holding out to him. "And we didn't have anything important to do so the boys tagged along."_

"_Okay." Ray said with a nod. He pressed his glasses further up his nose. "This is your cousin, isn't it?" He asked, picking up a laptop from the round table next to him. On it was a picture of Zayn and Lukas outside with their arms around each other's shoulders, both wearing full winter suits and it must have been taken when Zayn went with Lukas and the rest of his family on their outing. _

"_Yeah and that's my aunt and uncle in the background. We stayed with them for most of our time there." Zayn answered, finally taking the microphone from Harry's hand when Harry got tired of holding it up._

"_But you were all seen leaving an apartment on the day of your flight back to London." _

_Liam leaned into the microphone. "Yeah, that was Zayn's cousin's place. It was very nice. We actually decided that it'd be much easier to get to the airport at such an early time if we were closer rather than an hour and a half away. But our flight actually got postponed for quite a bit of time so in the end it wasn't necessary but it was still nice." Liam informed Ray. _

I glanced back down at the end of the couch where Niall was playing with a water bottle in his hand, turning it over and over. He didn't seem interested in the conversation at all. Was he upset? Distracted? Was it because of me? Harry and Louis suddenly cheered quite loudly and I snapped my attention back to the interview.

_Liam nudged a pink-cheeked Zayn and Zayn scratched his cheek. They were all looking back at the laptop where the picture of Lukas and Zayn was pasted- but it was no longer Zayn and Lukas but rather a picture of-_

"Is that you?" I asked incredulously, squinting down at the minuscule picture.

"Maybe." Melanie answered with a shy grin and a nonchalant shrug.

"_Who's this lovely lady? Is she a friend of yours Zayn? Unless I'm mistaken you were seen with her quite a bit. Like here, and here and-"_

"_Zayn is a bit shy." Liam told Ray with a chuckle. Though Zayn's face was beet red he still supported a grin. _

"_Well that's why we're here, to get all the dirty little details! So tell us Zayn, are you off the market?" Ray leaned in and the camera zoomed in on Zayn's face. _

There was no way that this actually happened. Zayn got asked about Melanie in an interview yesterday? When did she find out? Holy crap! How was Melanie so calm next to me? On the screen Zayn simply shrugged and grinned wider. I rounded on Melanie.

"What was that supposed to mean? Holy crap Melanie! Did you forget to tell me something? Zayn just said- But oh my god Melanie!"

"No, shush for a moment. Watch the interview." She flushed, pointing back to the laptop. At that moment I realized that the interviewer had turned to Niall and my stomach dropped 10 feet.

"_So Niall, a little birdy told us that Zayn wasn't the only one with a mysterious someone. This one looks as though she's in nearly all the pictures you were taken in. Who is she?" Ray asked, reaching over to push a button on the laptop. _

An image appeared on the laptop of Niall holding the door open for me as we exited a Starbucks together and I stopped breathing altogether.

_Niall shifted uncomfortably on the couch next to Liam while both Harry and Louis exchanged knowing grins. _

"_Uhm… Well she's a really good friend." Niall said while clenching the bottle tightly in his hands. He reached up with one hand to scratch his cheek and shift again on the couch._

"_How good of a friend?" Ray pressed on. _

"_She's Niall's little girlfriend." Louis said teasingly and had he not been at the other end of the couch Niall would have likely clipped him over the back of the head. Ray seemed pleased with Louis' answer nonetheless. _

"_So she's your girlfriend?" He asked and a different picture appeared on the laptop, this time holding hands. _

A wave of dizziness washed over me and I held onto the counter for support. My heart was pounding in my chest and I only just remembered to breathe. This really happened, didn't it? Melanie looked at me with a grin but her grin quickly faltered and she placed a hand on my arm in concern.

With my eyebrows pinched together I waited, still frozen, for Niall's response. Would he completely deny it? Come up with an excuse? How did he even know what to say when we've never actually discussed it ourselves? We had barely admitted our feelings towards each other. Hell, I didn't even know what we were.

_Niall looked uncomfortable as he wrung his fingers together in his lap. "Well," He began and he looked at Liam who gave him an encouraging nod. Zayn, Harry and Louis all leaned forward curiously to hear Niall's response. _

"_We'll see where things go." Niall said finally, looking quite pleased with his answer. _

_Ray turned to the camera. "Well, there you have it ladies! Harry may possibly be the only member not taken! Moving on, we've got some questions from the fans. But first, can one of you explain to me what a poutine is?"_

Melanie stopped the video telling me that the rest of the interview was mainly focused on their upcoming tour of the United States.

I finally pulled my eyes away from the screen and let out a gush of air.

"Oh, come on Melissa, what were you expecting him to say?" Melanie said, nudging me. She was still eyeing me carefully as though I might collapse at any second. Truthfully I felt like I would.

"I don't know." I admitted. "I thought he might pretend that I was just a fan or a friend or something."

Melanie reached over and pet my hair fondly. "He wouldn't do that to you. You're not just a fan and you're definitely not just a friend." She said comfortingly. I nodded. "Plus he definitely left that option for more open when he said 'We'll see where things go'"

"Yeah, I suppose." I replied and a smile crept to my face. "But I really think that we need to talk about it. I mean, now that he said that there're probably going to be more questions like that."

"You guys haven't talked about it?" She deadpanned. I shrugged sheepishly.

"Sort of. I told him I liked him." I said.

Melissa waited for me to continue.

"We didn't say much," I said, shifting my feet under her hard gaze. "Only that we liked each other and he told me that they were flying to New York on the first of February in less than 2 weeks. That's it. Don't give me that look! At least I told him I liked him." I said weakly.

She pondered thoughtfully. "I guess you have a point. So he said he liked you too?"

"Yeah."

"See? I told you. What did I say like 5 days ago? Who's right? Me. You should always listen to me beca- Shit, the sauce is burning!"

It took me a second to process what she said and by that time the smell of burning food reached my nose and I spun to the stove.

"Aw, now I've got to start over." I wailed, lunging to lift the pot off the stove. "Get out of my kitchen Melanie! Go!"

Melanie bounded out of the kitchen laughing and clutching her laptop to her chest. Though dinner was now ruined, Melanie showing me the video had been worth it. My phone beeped and I leaned over to the counter, the smoking pot still in my hands and I read over the incoming text from Niall that appeared on the screen.

_***Hey beautiful (:***_

I smiled at his text. Each and every moment so far had no doubt been worth it.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0  
>The next day had been rather boring at school. I always hated Thursdays. They were pointless and uninteresting and so once again I spent the day texting Niall.<p>

From Melissa: _**hey you, what's up?**_

From Niall: _**Heeeeey just chillin with the boys before going to bed. Im hungry tho. Nom nom nom. how was the exam?**_

From Melissa: _**The exam was alright. Horribly boring though. I was going to try and compose something on the piano but I can't come up w/anything.**_

From Niall: _** aw babe :( something wrong?**_

From Melissa: _**no, just a lack of inspiration :/**_

From Niall:_** need help? Haha, dunno how I could help tho.**_

From Melissa: _**Actually, remember that tune you were playing at Lukas' house over and over again? What was it?**_

From Niall: _**oh, that was nothing. I got bored.**_

From Melissa: _**you made it up?**_

From Niall: _**Yea, wanna steal it? ;)**_

From Melissa: _**maybe…. :p**_

From Niall:_** haha, I dont mind. But you have to promise to show me!**_

From Melissa: _**deal. Feel special, leprechaun, I don't play piano for anyone :P**_

From Niall: _**I do feel special! maybe we can Skype soon? I can play it for you or I can record it and send it to you.**_

From Melissa: _**Skype. I miss your face :p**_

From Niall: _**I miss yours morrreeeee. When tho? **_

"Your sappiness is disgusting." Melanie said and I spun around startled.

"And you're a creep reading over my shoulder like that." I shot back.

She stuck her tongue out at me and plucked a string on one of the nearby guitars. "Wanna go out for supper? You've been sitting there for over an hour now and you haven't touched a single key since you started texting Niall."

"Where's Lukas?" I asked, gathering the music sheets spread over the keys and I placed them in my folder. I felt deflated knowing I had accomplished nothing and the music sheets remained half empty.

"He just came in the door about 10 minutes ago." She replied sourly and as she took me by the upper arm I wondered if she and Lukas had argued about something I didn't know about. I didn't resist as she pulled me away from my piano and trudged towards the kitchen.

"Let me grab my coat. It's on my bed." I told her, turning into my room. Placing my folder back I made myself a promise to give the song another go before the week was up. I grabbed a pair of mismatched socks from my fresh basket of laundry and headed back out to the kitchen. I paused in the doorway and shot a questioning look at Melanie who only rolled her eyes.

A very pretty girl with strawberry blonde hair that I recognized from one of my classes was standing very close to Zayn.

"Did she say if she was coming or not Melanie? I'd like to get going. I'm absolutely starving!" She turned around and realized that I was standing in the doorway and she clapped her hands together happily and greeted me as if we were best friends. "Oh, hey Melissa! I absolutely adore your cardigan! You'll have to show me where you got it."

Every once and a while a girl latches herself onto Lukas and being the hormonal 18 year old he is he goes along with it. Most of them are all really loud and annoying and I had a feeling that this one wouldn't last very long. But he doesn't care as long as she's hot and he's getting laid. Melanie and I, however, have to put up with them and play nice.

"Oh, uh, thanks. I like your… purse." I said, sharing a What the fuck look with Melanie. She shot an unimpressed glance at Lukas who simply shrugged.

"I'm Amber." She added happily and I felt a spark of annoyance towards her.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Within 5 minutes of being within Amber's presence I was ready to shove her in front of a moving vehicle. I had felt slightly guilty after the thought because even though she was over-cheerful and spoke too much she did seem nice.

10 minutes later as we were sitting in the booth at the restaurant I felt no guilt whatsoever when I momentarily fantasized on Amber choking on the salad she ordered. Thankfully I was in a good mood today but Melanie seemed to be having more trouble with her patience.

"So," Amber said brightly, tapping her perfectly manicured nails on the table. "Lukas hasn't told me much about you guys and I figured now is a great time to get to know each other. Do you guys have boyfriends?"

I locked eyes with Melanie for the briefest second.

"No." We answered in unison. Her smile faltered. Barely, but enough for me to notice.

"Oh, that's funny because there's this rumor going around that you guys are dating the One Direction boys." She said as the waitress placed our food on the table. Then she let out a sickly sweet laugh and not quite knowing how to respond I faked my own laugh.

"That's ridiculous. They live across the ocean!" Melanie scoffed with her own horribly faked laugh.

"I know! Crazy… But you know them, right?" Amber pressed on.

"Yeah, we've met them." I answered, bringing a fry up to my mouth.

"You guys are so lucky! They're so gorgeous. I'd give anything to meet them. Are you guys still in touch?"

I finally realized something and I froze with my burger halfway to my mouth. With a quick glance at Lukas in front of me I noticed him sourly pushing his own fries across his plate with a look of annoyance. I glanced at Melanie and with just one look I knew that I had assumed correctly; Amber didn't actually give a crap about us, she just wanted to see if we could get her an autograph or something. If I was annoyed earlier I was pissed off now and I even struggled to keep my face rid of too much emotion.

"No, we never really bothered to keep in touch." I answered, refusing to look at Amber. She must have realized that we weren't impressed with her because she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

The conversation was very 'one-way' afterwards. I don't know what she was thinking when she launched into a speech of why she loved One Direction and why she of all people deserved to meet them. She was acting really stupid and I wanted nothing more than to abandon my food and leave but she seemed determined to keep us seated.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out noting that I had a text from Niall.

From Niall: _**We have tmrw off. Skype tonight?**_

I calculated the time difference. If it was nearly 8 pm here then it meant that it was nearly 1am there.

To Niall: _**Aren't you tired though?**_

Amber eyed me curiously and even asked me who I was texting.

"Oh, just my mom." I said with a fake smile.

Melanie grinned beside me knowing it was Niall. "Tell mom I say hey." She said.

From Niall: _**Leprechauns don't sleep. Now get online!**_

To Niall: _**im the restaurant. I can be home in 20 if you want? Mel says hi**_

From Niall: _**Hurry upppppp**_

I wiped my mouth with my napkin and gestured to Melanie that I was going to get up.

"Where are you going?" Amber asked as I pulled my coat on.

"I'm going to go pay my bill. I've got to get going. I've got some… homework to do." I said. I didn't even bother trying to hide the fact that I was lying and everyone knew it too.

"I'll come." Melanie said, jumping at the first opportunity to leave. I wasn't the only one eager to get away from Amber.

Amber looked half frustrated and half desperate as Melanie and I left the table. As we paid Melanie looked back at Lukas who now had all of Amber's attention.

"Should we save him?" Melanie asked but then laughed. We both knew the answer.

"Maybe next time he'll learn." I laughed lightly, handing the money over to the cashier.

"Why in such a hurry?" Melanie asked when I tugged her by the arm out of the restaurant.

"I'm Skyping with mom." I joked and Melanie grinned.

"Code names? Actually we probably should give them code names. This should be fun." Melanie said.

"Really? Code names?" I asked as we crossed the busy street.

"Yeah, like Harry could be Curly or something."

"How original." I said with a roll of my eyes. "No, we're not doing code names." I said firmly.

"You're no fun." Melanie pouted.

0o0o0o0o0o0

I kicked my snow covered shoes off, slung my jacket over the back of a chair and bounded off to my room with excitement bubbling in my stomach. Tonight was the first time since the boys left that I would get the chance to see and hear Niall. I pulled my laptop off the charger and sat down on my bed with my legs crossed. I waited impatiently for it to start up and pulled my phone out in the meantime.

"I brought some food." Melanie said, walking into my room with juice boxes of apple juice and 2 different bags of chips. I blinked at her.

"Go away." I joked but to an extent I was dead serious. But as much as missed Niall I couldn't bring myself to kick Melanie out. Melanie must have read my expression.

"Oh calm down. I'll leave in a few minutes. I just want to say hi to the boys." She scoffed playfully. I managed a sheepish grin.

I closed up all the windows and icons that popped up and ignored all messages and updates. As I opened up Skype to log on my internet connection suddenly faltered before disappearing completely. I froze, my mouth hanging open stupidly.

"Seriously?" I muttered. Moments ago I had been a click away from seeing his face and hearing his voice. I clicked the buttons impatiently trying to reconnect or catch a signal. I eventually gave and my lower lip slid into a pout. "This is so unfair."

"You're so impatient! Give it a minute. See, it's back." Melanie pointed out.

A sense of relief washed over me and I logged onto Skype. I accepted the new request assuming it was Niall. Immediately I received an incoming call.

"Want some chips?" Melanie asked me, offering the bag out and I shook my head and accepted the call. The screen divided into two and began to load. It took longer than usual to load and at some point I wasn't sure whether I had heard voices or not.

"Niall?" I called out stupidly. Melanie snickered at me.

"Hi Melissa!" Niall replied back loudly, his thick accent full of enthusiasm. At that point I realized that Niall was not alone either.

"Why can't we see you?" Liam asked me. "Niall why can't we see her? Fix it Niall. Niallllll."

"It's not Niall, it's Melissa." Harry's voice said. "Turn your video on Melissa." He instructed.

I didn't even bother concealing the giddiness and the happiness I was feeling as I turned on my video chat.

Niall's webcam loaded much faster than mine and my stomach fluttered when I finally saw him. They were all sitting on a large, unmade bed all trying to fit into the camera. Louis and Zayn seemed to be missing though. Niall waved at me and I felt a sense of calmness come over me. At the same time, however, I wanted to cry. I longed for his familiar touch, his embrace and it was as though I was being mocked; allowed to see but not allowed to touch. I pushed these feelings aside though. For now Niall was before me, eyes as blue as ever, hair wild and untamed and bearing a wide smile.

I hadn't even realized that Melanie was already deep in conversation with Harry and Liam. Niall had remained silent, much like I had. I also realized that I was staring at Niall, searching his face for any differences in his appearance since I last saw him but he looked quite the same. Harry took notice and teased me, asking me why I was staring like a creep. I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly and made an effort to focus on the conversation rather than Niall's face.

I cleared my throat. "So how was today's interview at the radio station?" I asked and I saw Niall grin.

"We lost Niall halfway through." Harry said with a roll of his green eyes.

"Yep. I'm going to have to take his phone away if you keep distracting him like that Melissa." Liam teased and I felt my face flush.

"Niall, you told me the interview was done!" I accused and Niall shrugged sheepishly.

"Good morning beautiful." Harry randomly said and Liam and Niall turned to look at him. Harry shrugged and pretended he hadn't said anything. As soon as the boys turned back to the camera Harry continued but this time in a higher pitched voice. "Hey Niall! How was the meeting this morning?"

Everyone looked at Harry in confusion and he winked mischievously at Niall. At that point I realized that Harry had Niall's phone in his large hands and was reading the texts we had exchanged this morning.

"Give me my phone." Niall laughed and held his hand out. Harry rolled away from Niall and resumed reading in his version of Niall's voice.

"It was boring. I was thinking of you the whole time." Harry read and he snickered as he scrolled some more.

"Harold Styles, I'm serious." Niall said.

"Oh really?" Harry spoke, once again imitating my voice. "What were you thinking about?"

"Harry." Niall whined, reaching for his phone again. Harry snatched it away from Niall and Niall in return pounced on Harry and wrapped his hands around the phone but Harry kept a firm grip on it. Liam moved out of the way just as Niall and Harry tumbled off the bed and out of view.

Harry let out a gruff laugh and continued in a horrible Irish accent. "I was thinking of kissing you all over. I thought about you last night when I was-"

I gasped in horror. Thankfully Niall must have clamped his hand over Harry's mouth because Harry's words were muffled. There was some rustling and a loud 'thunk' followed by a groan of pain from Harry.

"Harry you dirty liar! It doesn't even say that!" I cried out, a hot blush covering my entire body while both Liam and Melanie were looking at me.

"You kinky child." Melanie teased.

"No Melanie, I swear! Look-" I grabbed my phone from my nightstand.

"She's lying." Harry called out, his voice still muffled from something. Harry was clearly amusing himself with this.

"And you're annoying." I retorted, showing Melanie Niall and I's innocent texts from this morning.

"But you still love me." Harry said, climbing back on the bed nursing a sore arm.

"Not more than I love you Hazza." Louis said, appearing in the doorway behind the boys. "Come on boys, leave Nialler alone." He teased, making his way towards the bed.

"Hey Louis!" I smiled and he waved back.

"How're my favourite lovely ladies doing this fine evening?" Louis said, swinging an arm across Harry's shoulders.

The boys stayed for quite a while. Zayn, unfortunately, had a sore throat and had gone to bed hours ago. I mostly sat quietly and listened to them talk and joke around amongst each other and with Melanie and I laughed when it was appropriate- which was all the time. It turned out that I missed them all much more than I thought. They were all so close yet so far at the same time.

About 15 minutes after the Skype session began I felt my phone vibrate in my lap. It was a text from Niall. I looked up in confusion but Niall pretended not to notice. I opened it up and but back a grin.

From Niall: _**you look beautiful**_

To Niall: _**ew no. **_

I watched Niall look down at his phone and roll his eyes before typing back a response while being careful to not make it obvious.

From Niall: _**you're gorgeous. I swear if I were there I'd make u stand in front of the mirror and I'd prove it to you (:**_

I tilted my head to the side shyly. That was really sweet of him to say that even though I looked awful.

To Niall: _**Nope, you're the beautiful one ;)**_

From Niall: _**I believe the word you're looking for is Sexy… **_

To Niall: _**HAHA, as if. Niall Horan sexy? Nope, I just don't see it…**_

From Niall: _**aw babe don't be a meanie. You know it's true (;**_

To Niall: _**Actually I don't. **_

Niall raised an eyebrow at me, set his phone down and smirked. Then while Louis and Melanie were arguing over who could complete a rubix cube first Niall stretched slowly, lifting his arms above his head so that his jumper rose showing off the band of his Calvin Klein boxers and lower abdomen. Then he dropped his arms and stared deeply into the camera and I shifted uncomfortably, biting back a sound of approval. On top of that he brought his hands up to his face and ran them through his hair leaving it standing on its ends in a mess and –sweet lord, he bit his lip.

"That's no fair!" I blurted out and everyone turned their attention on me. Niall looked quite amused.

"Exactly what I was saying my dear Melissa." Louis said with an agreeing nod, oblivious to the reason of my outburst.

"You can't take his side! Now _that's_ no fair." Melanie protested.

They had no clue why I had complained out loud like I had but Niall definitely knew. He leaned back on a pillow looking quite smug. Damn him, he was playing dirty.

"Alright lads, get out of my room." Niall said, glancing sideways at the clock by the bed. It was now past 2am there.

"No!" Louis cried and reached for the laptop in a fit of fake tears and sobs. As Harry and Liam attempted to pry Louis away from the bed the call disconnected.

"Well that was fun." Melissa grinned.

"Yeah." I agreed, falling back into my pillows with a smile of my own. I waited for Niall to call back but after nearly a minute Melissa spoke again.

"Did Niall talk to you about New York?" She asked, digging for crumbs at the bottom of the bag of chips.

I nodded absentmindedly while reading a text from my brother earlier.

"Are you going?"

"Wait, what? New York?" I asked, turning to her with a frown.

"Didn't Niall talk to you about New York yet?" She asked confusedly.

"I… no?"

I had a brief flashback to our last night together where Niall had told me that he and the boys were flying to New York at the beginning of February on Harry's birthday. We had both been drinking quite a bit but I was certain that I remembered him asking me if I'd be willing to visit him while they were in New York.

Melanie clearly hadn't expected me to not know and she seemed reluctant to tell me more. "Oh. Erm, well Zayn called me this morning. They're going to be in New York next week and he invited me to go see him next weekend for 2 days or something."

I felt a wave of disappointment wash over me. Niall hadn't mentioned New York at all. Maybe he didn't want me to go. I tried to hide my disappointment but Melanie quickly detected it.

"That's great," I said and I tried to smile. "You'll have loads of fun." I told her but I couldn't help but feel left out. Melanie made a sound of disapproval.

"Are you kidding me right now? I'm not going without you. Don't worry, I'm sure Niall just hasn't gotten around to asking you yet." She reassured me.

"Or maybe he just doesn't want to see me." I mumbled, picking at the lint on my pillow.

"Or maybe he's nervous. Ever thought of that genius? It probably means more to him to ask you to go see him. You guys are _a lot_ closer than Zayn and I. Zayn and I talked about it. I'm going to visit him purely as a friend and nothing more so it wasn't such a big deal. And on top of all that Zayn told me that their travelling agent is doing them a favor and she's looking into cheap deals and she's going to book 3 seats on a flight from Montreal to New York for next weekend; one for me, one for Lukas and one for you. All we have to do is go online and pay for them. So be patient. And I know for a fact that if Niall doesn't get around to asking you soon Harry or Louis will." She said, sounding quite pleased of herself.

I gave her a small nod still thinking about the possibility that Niall didn't want to see me. Melanie told me that she was going to go in the shower and she bid me goodnight and disappeared out of my room with the last bag of chips.

While I waited patiently for Niall to call back I stretched my long legs out from beneath me. After another minute I realized that maybe Niall wasn't going to call back tonight. One voice in my head was telling me not to worry and that he likely went to bed or fell asleep since it was really late there. The other voice told me that he didn't want to talk to me all the time. With a sigh I reached over to close the screen but it suddenly rang loudly from an incoming call.

I fumbled with the volume and accepted the call.

"Hey you. Sorry, I went to the washroom." Niall told me as he settled himself comfortably on his bed.

This time Niall was alone and it appeared that he had changed out of his jeans and jumper. Instead he wore a pair of charcoal grey sweat pants and a white fitted t-shirt.

"That's fine. Have the other's gone to bed?" I asked, pulling my laptop onto my lap.

"Yeah. Well Harry and Louis are sharing a hotel room, as usual, so I doubt they'll go to sleep for a while."

"Oh, okay. It's really late over there, are you sure you're not tired?" I asked.

Niall yawned widely and grinned. "Nope."

"Maybe you should get some sleep." I suggested. "You'll end up wasting your entire day tomorrow sleeping."

"It's worth it." He answered, rubbing his eyes. "Hold on, I'll be back in a second."

"Me too." I said and as he disappeared off the camera I set my laptop down and lowered the screen so that it was focused on my pile of pillows. I slid off my bed and pulled my top off. I slid my jeans off and I pulled a pair of black sweat pants on and a blue long-sleeved shirt. After zipping on a hoodie I returned to my bed and pulled my socks off.

"You got changed?" Niall asked with a pout.

"Yeah…?"

"You didn't have to hide, you know. I wouldn't have minded." He smirked. I clicked my tongue in disapproval.

"But on a more serious note," He continued. "Did you want to… Are you interested in… Well, um, we're going to New York next week and I was wondering if you'd like to come to New York and visit us for the weekend or something… I mean, I understand if you're busy and-"

"I'd like that." I interrupted him.

"Really?" he asked. I nodded.

"Of course I would, why wouldn't I not? It might be a bit expensive but I'll manage." I said. Melanie was right. I was just being silly thinking that Niall didn't want to see me.

"I'll pay for your flight ticket." Niall offered and I shook my head.

"No. I don't want you spending money on me." I said.

"Well why not?" He demanded. "There's nothing wrong with me spending money on you if I want to. Maybe I already bought the ticket."

"I know you didn't. And you're right, there's nothing wrong with you spending money on me but I'm not letting you spend that much money on me when I can manage on my own." I said. "Save your money for more important things."

"Come on, just let me buy the ticket."

"No Niall. I'm buying my own ticket." I said firmly. "Now stop arguing with me."

Niall rolled his eyes and sighed in defeat. "Fine." He said and he stuck his tongue out at me. I grinned. How was everything he did adorable?

We ended up talking about everything and anything for the next hour. It was half past 10 on my clock when I told Niall to get some sleep. Niall didn't protest too much.

"Alright, goodnight love." He said with a yawn.

"Goodnight Niall." I smiled tiredly.

"I miss you." He said, blinking repeatedly in attempt to keep his eyes open.

"I miss you too. Text me sometime tomorrow if you're not too busy." I said softly.

"I promise. Goodnight Melissa. I…" I watched Niall take a deep breath. He was about to say something else when he frowned at himself and shook his head slightly.

When he didn't say anything else I bid him goodnight and ended the call. Had he been about to say _I love you_?

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_**Author's note;**_

_**Hey guys. I'd just like to apologize for completely disappearing for a month and a half. I feel terrible. I've just been dealing with some really difficult things for a while now. But I'll do my very best from now on to get back to updating once a week! No promises though :/ **_

_**So here's the next chapter. Super long. Yea buddy. Is my story too long? Anyways, I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. There's like, no plot anymore… haha. I'll be glad to take any suggestions! Someone suggested an official first date for Melissa and Niall while in New York. Does anyone live in New York or know of any activities that I could use for my characters? Let me know please! (:**_

_**Coming soon: Melissa, Melanie and Lukas go to New York! (That's literally all I have..) **_

_**I'm going to have to do some research from now on to see exactly where the boys have been. I want to try and keep the story as true as possible as to where the boys are in the world. Remember it's only January in the story! **_

_**So! Leave a review please! And special thanks to those who always review! And thanks to those who added this story to their favourites (:**_

_**~GiveMeLovee. **_


	20. Chapter 20

Forever Young Chapter 20

I decided that I spent way too much time texting Niall. Way too much time. I began spending less effort and time on my studies but I wasn't really concerned with my grades just yet; I had always been careful to never let my grades fall. Which is why I dedicated my Friday night to a 'study' night with Laura and Melanie. We had gathered in our living room with books and food spread around us. As I wrote out an introduction to an essay I was writing Melanie filled Laura in on our plans for next weekend.

"I can't believe you guys are going to New York without me." She groaned. "Bring me back a present."

"I'll steal you a towel from the hotel we're staying at or something." Melanie joked. "But I'm officially broke. We paid our plane tickets this afternoon."

"We're they expensive?" Laura asked, reaching for the bowl of popcorn.

I nodded. "Pretty expensive. But Liam asked their traveling agent to look into better deals for us and it cut off a huge chunk of the price, thankfully. I'm broke too. I'll be lucky if I do any shopping while I'm there."

"But you'll be with 5 rich, hot British boys." Laura said, tossing some popcorn into the air and into her mouth.

"4." I corrected.

"What?" She asked, turning to me.

"I said 4. 4 British boys. Niall is Irish." I said.

"Of course, how could I forget your Irish boyfriend." She rolled her eyes and Melanie laughed.

"He's not my boyfriend." I flushed.

"Yet." They said in unison and burst into a fit of giggles. I reached over and threw a pretzel at Laura. It bounced off the tip of her nose. She froze and gave me a sour look. Suddenly she picked up a handful of popcorn and launched it at me. I yelped, covered my face, and once the popcorn had all fallen I grabbed a handful of pretzels this time and threw it at both Melanie and Laura.

"I'm going to get you for that!" Melanie said, reaching for a pillow.

And here we go…

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

I was very glad I hadn't ever put much information or pictures of myself on my tumblr. I don't know what I would do if the fans of One Direction found out about my blog. I spent my entire Saturday morning scrolling through my dashboard, reblogging pictures and answering any messages in my inbox that I had missed from the past 2 weeks.

Melanie had always been a fan of One Direction which was weird now considering everything that happened. Once upon a time Melanie had been quite the fan girl and followed up on the boy's activities through tumblr. Though Melanie didn't have her own tumblr she often went on mine and so quite frequently I would come across images of the boys from fan blogs she had followed. Now it was weird seeing the boys on my dash. It was weird to see the occasional post from another fan talking about her love for the boys or retelling something that one of the boys did or said.

It was almost 1pm when I decided that it was time to get up and do something productive. I refreshed the page once to see if I had any messages to answer before I left my computer but something caught my eye; a picture that had just been posted. The caption of the photo read 'Niall about an hour ago having dinner with this mysterious girl. What happened to the other one?'

The image was blurry and lopsided and even though I hoped that maybe it wasn't him I knew it was. The image was taken from the back where Niall's hand was hovering over the girl's upper back while he held a door open for her. I couldn't see her face but from that angle she did look very pretty. She had long black hair and wore expensive looking clothing.

At that moment I didn't quite know what to feel? Was I supposed to be upset? Mad? Jealous? I know for a fact that I did feel hurt. Niall hadn't mentioned at all that he was going out for dinner at a restaurant with another girl. I sat there staring at the picture wondering how to react. Quite a few girls I knew would have called their boyfriends demanding to know who the girl was. But Niall wasn't my boyfriend.

"What are you doing?" Melanie asked casually, pulling a clean glass from the dishwasher and filling it up with water.

"I was just about to get off tumblr and wash the floors or something." I answered with a surprisingly calm tone.

"Is that Niall?" She asked, coming up behind me.

"Yeah." I replied, looking up at her.

"Well who's that chick?" She demanded, squinting at the blurry image.

I shrugged.

"You don't know?" She asked as she tilted her head to the side.

"No. Should I?" I asked.

"Well I'd be a little concerned if my boyfriend was out having secret dinners with another girl." Melanie frowned.

"But that's the thing Melanie, he's not my boyfriend. Technically he's quite free to be with whoever he likes." I answered and the truth of what I just said sank in. Was Niall not serious about the things he had said to me? Because he wasn't by boyfriend, no matter how much I wanted him to be.

"Yeah but he can't do this-" she said, gesturing to the computer screen, "and then come back to you like nothing happened."

My face fell. She was right. What did it mean now?

"Maybe she's just an old friend or something. Can I be honest with you?" I asked and she nodded. "I'm not that bothered by this picture. Yeah, I'm a little upset and confused about why Niall didn't mention anything about having dinner with another girl but he's quite allowed to have a life. I'm not going to ask him about it. I'm just going to trust him and if he tells me about it then he'll tell me but I'm not going to freak out about it. Maybe I should be but I don't want to turn into that type of girl. I spent so much time worrying about admitting my feelings to Niall and I don't want to start feeling insecure again. I don't want to miss out on anything."

Melanie looked quite impressed and I let out a smile and closed the page.

"Wow, I envy you! You're so calm about it! Niall better treat you like the amazing girl you are." She said, wrapping her arms around my shoulder in a hug.

"Thanks Melanie." I smiled.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

I tried to stay as true to my word as possible. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be because when I logged onto tumblr Sunday night after having spent the day at the park with Melanie and Laura I was faced with dozens of pictures of Niall with this girl again. My first thought was that she was extremely pretty. My second thought was 'did they change clothes?' It took me a moment to realize that these photos were not from yesterday but rather fresh from this afternoon. This time Niall and the girl were climbing into a taxi with Louis and Harry already seated in the van. With a sigh I sunk in my chair and chewed my nail.

I glanced over at my phone. It was nearly midnight meaning nearly 5am over there. Niall would be up within the next 20 minutes if he woke up when he was supposed to. I contemplated on whether to text him or not. If I did how high was the chance that this could lead to both of us being more upset than anything else? Was my curiosity worth it?

I tore myself away from the screen leaving my phone there and gathered some fresh clothing before retreating to the bathroom for a shower. It was almost midnight and I did have school tomorrow.

I was sure that there was nothing to worry about. But while I was in the shower lathering shampoo into my hair my mind started projecting images. At first they were harmless. Niall hugging fans. Niall taking pictures and signing autographs for fans. Niall posing for a picture with _her_. Niall sitting at a table eating dinner with _her_. Images of Niall whispering sweet nothings into her ear. Niall wrapping his arms around her small frame and pulling her close. Niall kissing her… I shook the image out of my mind violently, willing the thoughts away. Niall wouldn't do that to me… would he?

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

I woke up the next morning and checked my phone. Niall had texted me good morning hours ago as usual as well as Louis' joke of the day. I sent Niall a good morning and stretched, climbing out of bed and replied to Louis saying that it was the lamest joke ever. As I pulled my long hair unto a bun I remembered everything that happened the night before and I was glad that I hadn't done anything regrettable, like bring up this mysterious girl to Niall. By the time I had gotten dressed Niall had already texted back telling me that he was torn between a sub sandwich for lunch or McDonalds. I suggested the sub and resumed getting ready for school.

We talked about random things while Melanie, Lukas and I picked up coffees at Starbucks and travelled to school and I even texted the others to say hello. I hadn't spoken to them much since they left.

We had just arrived on the campus when Amber came up to Lukas and kissed his cheek. I shared a look with Melanie before we both turned in the opposite direction hoping she wouldn't notice us.

"Oh, hey guys!" She waved. Damn, no getting away now.

"Hey." I said weakly, turning back.

Our courses weren't for another 10 minutes and so Melanie and I ended up having to suffer through Amber's constant talk about everything unimportant. That is until she mentioned Niall.

"What?" I asked, shaking my thoughts away.

"Oh, I was just saying how Sugarscape- you know Sugarscape, right? Well they posted an article this morning about Niall Horan's new girlfriend. Her name is Brianna and she's one of Louis' girlfriend's friends. I think they're really cute together. Apparently Eleanor set them up together." She continued. "Where are you going Melissa? Classes aren't for another 3 minutes!"

I hadn't even realized that my feet were quickly carrying me away. Melanie caught up with me leaving Lukas behind with Amber. I finally stopped when I had reached the girl's washroom on the 2nd floor.

"She's an idiot Melissa. I don't even know what she was trying to prove but whatever she's saying is probably a lie."

I stared numbly at my reflection in the vacant bathroom. "Have you seen her? Brianna? She's easily 10 times prettier than me." I managed to say. "Niall and I aren't even dating and I'm a jealous mess over every little thing. This can't work Melanie. I'm going to ruin it."

"Don't say that." She said sympathetically. "All these girls are bland compared to you and Niall sees that. Don't let this get to you. It'll all work itself out. And if you need to then you can talk to Niall about it face to face this weekend."

"Come on Melissa. Don't let someone like Amber ruin this. Maybe you don't see yourself when you're with Niall but I do. You _glow_. You smile like there's not a thing wrong in the world. Your eyes light up. I've never seen you like that Melissa. Don't let this get away."

I nodded, clearing any upsetting thoughts from my head. But it just wouldn't work. I was still thinking about Brianna and her size 00 jeans or about all the girls around the world much more interesting than me. I managed a smile.

"Okay." I mumbled. "I'm just…"

"Scared." Melanie finished. "You're scared because you've never put this much trust in anyone."

I looked up at her. "… Yeah. I've never felt this… _vulnerable_ before." I admitted.

"I know. But you have to promise me not to let others influence your thinking. People are going to be mean. People are going to say thing. Sometime really nasty things but you'll have to learn to ignore it because they're irrelevant, okay?"

I nodded, understanding what she was saying. I had thought of it, of course. If Niall and I started dating (a very big _if_) not everyone would support us like our friends did. A lot of people would get upset. I just wasn't very good at dealing with those kinds of things.

"You look worried. Don't look so worried. Everything is going to work out fine. You'll see." She said, wrapping an arm tightly around my shoulder.

Not trusting myself to speak I simply nodded again.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

NIALL's POV

"You alright mate?" Louis asked. "You're awful quiet."

While Liam, Zayn and Harry had gone across the street to McDonalds, Louis came with me and we had ordered sub sandwiches together. We were waiting for them to join us back at the van.

"Yeah, just got some stuff on my mind." I said, taking a bite out of my sub.

"You mean you've got some Melissa on your mind." Louis smirked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

I rolled my eyes but didn't say anything. Of course it was true, though. I was always thinking about her. It was insane. I could spend an entire day texting her and never get bored of the random nonsense we talked about. Things like why Cactuses had needles, and which would hurt more, a cactus needle or a porcupine needle? Things like stuff we wanted to accomplish before we grew too old, like bungee jumping and sky diving. And we spoke about the little things on our minds, like how excited we were to be seeing each other again in less than a week. 4 days to be exact. I've been counting.

"When are you going to ask her out? You two have been at it for ages now."

"It's hasn't even been an entire month yet Louis." I reminded him with a grin.

"You never answered my question." he scowled.

"I was thinking maybe this weekend. I never got to take her out to dinner so I was thinking that maybe I could to that on Saturday night, and then ask her out or something."

"Or something? You don't seem too sure." Louis teased.

"Shut it, I'm nervous, okay?" I said, shoving his shoulder playfully.

"Calm down, Leprechaun, no need to get your pants in a twist. Just say it like it is. Get down on one knee, look her straight in the eye-"

"I'm not proposing to her you idiot!" I laughed.

"Fine then, I won't help." He said airily, turning his back to me.

"That's fine by me." I joked, taking another bite.

Only 4 more days….

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_**Author's Note;**_

_**Sorry for not updating on the weekend like I promised, but now is better than never, right? So to be honest I have absolutely no idea where I'm going with this which is why it took me so long to type out this chapter which also turned out to be absolute crap. But nonetheless reviews are appreciated. **_

_**Thanks :/  
>~GiveMeLovee<strong>_


	21. Chapter 21

Forever Young Chapter 21

"My god it's freezing." Melanie complained, hugging her coffee close to her chest while struggling to hold all of her shopping bags. I nodded in agreement.

"You're the one who wanted to go shopping at the last minute." I reminded her, hopping lightly from foot to foot in attempt to regain some feeling in my toes.

"I know." She grumbled.

I walked around a puddle of water and shivered beneath the layers of clothing I was wearing. As we reached an intersection and waited for the signal to cross the busy road I turned my back to the wind. My eyes wandered the snowy buildings ahead of me and something on display in a small shop caught my eye.

"Hold on Melanie." I said, grabbing her arm and pulling her back on the sidewalk.

"But the light is green. We're gonna miss it." She protested but I pulled her over to the shop window.

"See that?" I said, pointing to the far left.

"Yeah… that's a really creepy doll." She said.

"No- not the doll. _**That."**_

"Oh, look at that. Kinda reminds me of Niall." She said thoughtfully.

I turned to Melanie and bit my lip. "Should I buy it for him? You know, like a small present or something."

"Yeah, why not?"

"It's not weird?" I asked, turning back to examine the object.

"No. At least I don't think so. It's cute." Melanie shrugged. "But hurry up, I don't want to stand here all day. Are you getting it or not?"

I felt around in my pocket at an extra bill. "Come on." I said and I pulled her into the tiny shop.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"MELANIE!" I bellowed, "Where are my nude heels?"

"They're in the hallway closet." She called back.

I dashed out of my room and threw the door of the hallway closet open. Dropping to my knees I pawed through the pile of shoes looking for my heels. A few feet away Melanie popped her head out of her room.

"Are you almost ready?" She asked, watching me toss shoes around.

"Er, well, sort of. Got them!"

I grabbed the heels and hurried back to my room where it looked as though a tornado had stormed through. Melanie and I were currently packing to catch a flight to New York in less than 2 hours. Technically we should already be at the airport. Lukas appeared in my doorway and observed the chaos.

"We're going to be late." He sang. For once in his life Lukas had actually prepared for something ahead of time which meant that he was already packed and ready to go. Unfortunately Melanie and I hadn't been as well prepared and decided to do some shopping this afternoon while assuming we'd have more than enough time to pack when we got back. Getting stuck in traffic on the way home had not been part of the plan.

I stuck my tongue out at him and grabbed two pairs of jeans from my closet and throwing them onto the pile in my suitcase.

"Don't forget the gift you bought for your little boyfriend." Lukas teased and I blushed.

"He's not my boyfriend." I retorted, placing the heels in the suitcase.

"If you say so." He teased. "Do you need help?"

I shook my head. "I think I'm alright. I just need to grab some stuff from the bathroom."

"Well hurry up because we need to leave really soon if we want to make the flight." Melanie added as she passed my room.

I quickly made sure I had everything; Jeans, shirts, t-shirts, a formal dress (Niall's request), socks, underwear, sweaters, my laptop, toiletries, makeup… What else was I missing?

With a nervous glance at the clock I zipped my suitcase up while racking my brain for anything else I might need. I gathered my stuff from the bathroom and stuffed them into the suitcase before zipping it up again.

"Mike's here." Lukas called from the kitchen. Michael, my wonderful brother, had offered to drive us to the airport as well as make sure my cat had enough food and water this weekend. Stressed beyond belief, my eyes scanned my room once more before I yanked my suitcase off the bed and rolled it to the kitchen where Melanie and Lukas were pulling on their winter coats. Mike stepped in the door a moment later brushing snow from his hair. "Ready to go?" He asked.

"Has everyone got their passports?" I asked, pulling on my shoes. Lukas quickly ran to his room to get his.

About a minute later we were all ready to go. Or at least I hoped so.

"You guys are going to miss your flights." Mike warned.

"Okay, okay, let's go!" I said, herding them out the door.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Melanie nudged me awake when the seatbelt light came on. I lifted my head from Lukas' shoulder and groggily fastened my seatbelt. I struggled to remain awake. It seemed as though my body was trying to catch up on all the sleep I had missed these past few days.

The plane lurched into a descend towards the airport and I wrapped an arm around my midsection. I had quickly come to the conclusion that I did not like flying which was pretty disappointing considering it was thrilling and the view was fantastic. I made a mental note to pick some anti-nausea stuff for the flight home.

Unfortunately none of the boys would be at the airport. It was still quite early in the day and they had an interview to attend around dinner time. Liam sent me the address of the hotel we would be staying at and a taxi was our best option of getting there. Hopefully there won't be any trouble getting to the hotel and we'll just wait there for them to come back. But knowing Melanie we'll be out shopping sooner than we think.

Despite my exhaustion I was excited to see them. Not only Niall but Harry, Louis, Liam and Zayn too. It was insane how quickly I had grown attached to the 5 of them- something I spent years avoiding. Because when you let yourself care about someone there's always a chance of disappointment and hurt.

The plane landed smoothly and we collected our luggage before taking the taxi to the hotel. There was no trouble whatsoever getting there. It was getting _in_ that was the problem. The complications began when we pulled into the hotel entrance and were blocked by a crowd of people. It took me a moment to realize that they were fans, hoping to catch a glimpse of One Direction. I didn't know that we were sharing the same hotel as them, I actually was certain we were in a nearby hotel or something.

Melanie paid the taxi driver and we wheeled our suitcases through the thin coat of snow towards the door. A tall, buff security guard standing at the door refused to move aside for us.

"You'll have to wait outside like the rest." He said gruffly, barely looking down at us.

"Excuse me, Sir," Lukas said, stepping forward. "We have reservations here."

The man finally seemed to notice our suitcases and snorted rather rudely but otherwise pulled out a walkie-talkie. I peered around at the cluster of girls watching us curiously. I made eye contact with a tall girl in the back and smiled politely. Her poster was the very over-used carrot with a picture of Louis on the center. Her eyes widened and she gasped loudly, her eyes still locked on me. Thinking that one of the boys had been spotted all the girls turned their heads wildly.

"It's Niall's girlfriend!" The girl pointed excitedly, speaking loud enough for it to travel to my ears. My face burned in embarrassment and I turned away quickly. A flash went off, followed by some more.

"Names?" The security guard demanded.

"Lukas Malik, Melanie Collins and Melissa Neil." Lukas answered, glancing sideways at the fans approaching us.

"Alright, come inside, but we're going to need some identification."

With my head ducked down I quickly followed behind Lukas and Melanie while 2 girls tried to catch my attention. We made it inside and another security guard accompanied us to the reception desk while the other one returned to his post outside. The woman at the desk was very young and she smiled kindly at us.

"One room for one and another for two, is that correct?" She asked and we all nodded. "I'll need to see some identification, please."

I handed her my passport after she looked at Melanie and Lukas' ID. She handed my passport back with a smile and handed us each an envelope.

"Your rooms are on the 6th floor. The elevator is just around the corner and if you have any issues with your hotel room you can come see me, my name is Elizabeth, or any of our staff should be able to assist you."

Elizabeth went over brief rules and breakfast hours that thankfully took less than a minute.

"Would you like me to call someone to help you with your luggage?" She asked.

"No thank you, we should be alright." I smiled.

"Alright, well I hope you enjoy your stay and don't hesitate to come see me if you have any problems. And just for security measures we're asking all hotel guests to keep their room key on them when they leave the hotel. You'll be asked to show your key when you leave and enter." She said kindly.

We thanked her and made our way towards the elevator.

"Someone's famous." Lukas said.

"That was weird." I replied. "I just hope it doesn't happen again."

After a moment of silence Melanie's face cracked into a grin.

"So, who wants to go shopping?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It was nearly 7pm when Niall texted me asking where we were.

_***We're at the shopping center about 10 minutes away from the mall* **_

_***When are you coming back? We'll be back at the hotel soon***_

_***15 minutes***_

_***Hurry up (:***_

Despite having no money to really spend, the three of us returned back to the hotel with our arms full of bags. There were even more fans waiting outside the hotel singing One Thing loudly. We slipped by them quietly and showed our room cards to the same security guard that was there this afternoon. He let us through and we entered the lobby brushing snow off our shoulders. It began snowing about 5 minutes ago and from the looks of it the snow was falling thicker by the minute.

We parted ways on the 6th floor, Lukas going to the right and Melanie and I going down to the left. I slid the card in the slot and we entered our large room seconds later. Melanie, eager to go shopping had simply dumped her suitcase at the foot of her bed, instructed me to do the same before going to retrieve Lukas. So neither of us were unpacked.

I hung my jacket in the small closet by the door and kicked my soaked shoes off, setting them by the heater. Our room was spacious and decorated nicely with warm colors. By each of our comfortable looking beds there stood a brown dresser with a lamp. There was also a large desk in the corner and a flat screen television on the wall across our beds. There was even a bathroom with a large shower. A large oval mirror hung over two sinks along a wide counter.

"Zayn and Liam are coming over after they see Lukas. Is that okay?" Melanie asked, her thumbs hovering over her phone.

"Yeah, sure." I grinned, unzipping my suitcase and she quickly replied back to whoever she was texting.

"I can't believe we're in New York." She babbled as she placed her clothing at random in the dresser by her bed.

"I know. It's absolutely amazing. I can't wait to go see Time Square."

"If we have time I want to get a decent view of the Statue of Liberty." Melanie said, tossing a bra into the open drawer.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and send a quick text to Niall saying we were in our rooms. He didn't reply so I turned back to emptying my suitcase. When I reached the dress I had folded carefully I turned to Melanie.

"What do you suppose Niall wanted me to bring a dress for? Did you bring one too?" I asked, leaving it in the suitcase.

"No. He asked you to bring a dress?" She made her way over to me and peered down at the dark blue dress I had brought. It was the only dress that wouldn't wrinkle in my suitcase.

"Yeah. I thought you got told to bring one too." I frowned.

Melanie's eyes widened. "Maybe he's taking you to dinner." She suggested.

"Maybe." I replied. My mind chose at the worst moment to bring Brianna up and my mood faltered.

Melanie's phone buzzed a few feet away and she reached over for it. As she replied to whatever text she received I continued placing my clothing in my dresser.

"We don't have any towels so I'm going to go get some. I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?" Melanie said, already halfway out the door.

"I saw some just a minute ago, Melanie." I called after her but she had already left the room leaving it open by an inch. I noticed her key card on the desk so I left the door as it was so she'd be able to get back in. I peeked in the bathroom and frowned at the pile of towels. Why would Melanie say there were no towels when we had more than enough? I heard the door open again and close lightly with a click.

"Melanie, we have towels right here." I said, reaching for the towels.

At that moment the light in the bathroom shut off leaving me in the dark.

"Melanie, what are you doing?" I laughed, the towels still in my hand.

"I'm not Melanie." A voice replied in amusement, entering the bathroom.

My stomach dropped. That wasn't Melanie. As the figure walked towards me I remained frozen, unable to speak or think. My insides turned and twisted as the person approached me. He stopped barely a foot away from me and in the feint light coming from the lamp in the room I could make out the familiar hair and soft features. I finally reached out and wrapped my arms around him at the same time that he pulled me close by the waist.

"Niall." I breathed before his lips found mine.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_**Author's note; **_

_**I officially suck at updating. I'm really sorry :/ Between finishing high school and the fact that I'm moving away from home very soon left me little time for writing. I honestly can't even make any promises as to when I'll be updating next. All I can say is that to those who've stuck with me through this story; you guys are absolutely amazing. And a MASSIVE thank you to all those who reviewed and gave me encouraging feedback. You're the reason I haven't given up yet. **_

_**So Melissa, Melanie and Lukas are in New York. What's going to happen with Melanie and Zayn? What's going on with this 'date' that Niall might have planned? Also, find out more about this mysterious Brianna soon!**_

_**~GiveMeLovee**_


	22. Chapter 22

Forever Young Chapter 22

"Niall." I breathed before his lips found mine. His grip on my waist tightened and I dug my fingers gently into his hair, pulling him closer to me. I craved his touch. My lips silently spoke all the things I wanted to say; I miss you, I need you, I'm _hurt_, I'm mad at you but I don't ever want to leave you again.

His lips moved with mine, moulding them perfectly. My heart fluttered rapidly in my chest. However, once again, my mind chose the worse time to wonder whether Niall had ever kissed Brianna. Great, I ruined the mood for myself.

I pulled back quickly leaving Niall to peer at me in confusion. _Don't do it. Don't do it Melissa,_ I told myself.

"Niall…?" I began. _Who's Brianna_, I wanted to ask. _Who is she?_

"Yeah?" He asked, a small smile creeping to his face. _Don't do it!_

"I…"

His smile began to falter and a frown took place on his face. "What is it?" He asked, taking my face gently in his hands. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't ask.

"I've missed you." I whispered.

"I've missed you more." He said and he leaned in to press a light kiss on my cheek.

A rapid knock on the door pulled us apart and Niall followed me back out into the room. The moment I pulled the door open I was dragged into a hug by Harry only to be pulled in the other direction by Louis.

"I want to hug her first." Louis announced as he hugged me tightly. Too tightly.

"Lou- ouch. Not so roughly- _Harry, put me down!_"

Harry had grabbed me out of Louis' embrace and carried me a few feet away from Louis to hug me.

"Was that really necessary?" I asked.

"Yup." Harry beamed. I glanced at Niall who simply shrugged. I had to admit that I was slightly disappointed that Harry and Louis had interrupted us.

"Did you guys get here alright then?" Louis asked, peering curiously in my suitcase hanging open on my bed.

"Yeah, but the fans at the entrance are a little intimidating." I answered honestly as I moved next to Niall who circled his arm around me.

"There are side exits that go directly to the parking lot." Harry told me. "We had to use them tonight when we came in. There're too many out there for us to get in safely."

"The fans like to push and shove." Louis said.

"But hey, if a bunch of girls want a piece of Harry Styles, I'm not complaining." Harry said cheekily.

I let out a laugh. It felt wonderful and carefree and I knew it was because everyone was back together.

"You've got big feet." Louis said, breaking the silence.

"What?" I turned to him, confused. It took me a second to realize that he was wearing my nude heals and balancing himself with a hand placed firmly on Harry's shoulder.

"I don't have big feet." I retorted. "And you better not break those, Louis."

"I won't. So who wants to go see Lukas?" Louis said and he wobbled over to the door, my shoes still on his feet.

"Take them off." I called after him but it was no use. With a snigger Harry followed him out the door commenting rather loudly that Louis was walking like a girl. The two took off down the hall and I turned back to Niall. Niall dropped his arm from around me, walked over to the door still wide open and closed it. He brought the chain up and slid it into place preventing anyone else from coming in the room.

"No interruptions." He explained, walking back to me with a cheeky grin. He wrapped his wide hands around my upper arms, pressed his warm lips onto mine and guided me backwards to the bed.

"Wrong bed." I mumbled against his lips and I steered him towards mine rather than Melanie's. His knees hit the edge and he lowered himself onto the bed, pulling me into his lap. We sat there comfortably for the next couple minutes sharing silent kisses back and forth. My heart never slowed down in my chest and I was sure Niall could hear it but I didn't care. His hands were trailing innocently up and down my back sending light shivers through me while I played with the hair at the nape of his neck.

"Your hair is longer." I murmured, pulling gently at his messy hair.

"Not by much." He replied, feathering kisses on my face and jaw. "I'm getting it trimmed next week."

"You should let your natural color grow out." I suggested, tilting my head to give him access to my neck.

"Mhmm." He said, nuzzling his face in my neck. I giggled and pulled back to rest my head on his shoulder.

"I miss this." He said after a moment.

"I know. I do too."

We stayed like that for another moment before my phone notified me of a text. It was from Melanie saying that if Niall and I weren't too 'busy' with each other that everyone was hanging out in room 718 one floor up and we were welcome to join.

"That's Harry and Zayn's room." Niall told me.

"Should we go?" I asked with a small smile.

"We don't have to." Niall grinned adorably. I didn't stop him when he kissed me again, a hand cradling my jaw.

I took the collar of his shirt between my fingers and slid off his lap onto the bed, pulling him with me. I shifted more towards the center of the bed and Niall kneeled over me, a small grin on his face.

"Oh, don't look so innocent." I murmured and pulled his face to mine connecting our lips.

A few minutes later when breathing became an issue Niall rolled off me and stretched out beside me. We stayed like that, catching our breaths while searching for the willpower to make our way upstairs with the others.

"We should go…" I said unconvincingly, holding onto him tightly.

I shifted towards the edge of the bed but he tightened his grip on me. "No." He said stubbornly.

"They ordered pizza." I told him.

"I'm not hungry." He said. At that moment his stomach chose to remind him otherwise by gurgling loudly.

"Come on, Niall." I laughed. He let go of me and hand in hand we walked to the door. I straightened out my top and ran my fingers through my hair to smooth it out.

"Got your key?" He asked, attempting to flatten his own messy hair. Oops.

"Yeah, let's go."

As we walked I fussed over his hair and Niall filled me in on what happened today- something he normally did by text but it felt nicer to hear it in person.

"So your flight was alright?" He asked as we entered the elevator.

"I got a little sick." I admitted sheepishly.

"Oh, Paul gets sick all the time. He has these pills that he takes before the flight. I can get you some if you like." Niall offered.

"That would be nice. Thankfully the flight wasn't too long or I might have barfed my lunch on Melanie's lap."

We shared a laugh and as we reached room 718 Niall knocked on the door. We could already hear Louis and Harry's laughter through the door. It opened up a second later and Melanie appeared behind the door.

"Finally." She said in exasperation, letting us in. "I was about to go check on you guys in case you feinted from lack of oxygen."

A chorus of laughs broke out through the large room and I flushed deeply.

"Very funny." I said.

I hugged Zayn and Liam and took a seat on the desk in the room identical to ours. It was nice to have everyone in the same room again. The atmosphere was exactly like it had been when the boys came to Canada. Liam grinned at Niall and mine's intertwined fingers and I blushed once again and turned away from his teasing looks.

After a little more teasing from everyone (mostly Harry and Louis pretending to kiss) we spoke about maybe going to see a movie in the theaters (even though it was highly unlikely that the boys would be allowed). Within 5 minutes Melanie and Louis already had more plans to go shopping which wasn't a surprise. If I knew one thing about Louis it was that he enjoyed shopping a little too much. The pizza they ordered was brought up half an hour later by room service and by that time we were all sprawled around the furniture. Niall chowed down nearly an entire pizza to himself and afterwards chugged a can of Coke.

"Such a gentleman." I joked after he burped rather loudly beside me.

"Sorry." He grinned sheepishly.

We were deciding on a movie to order when someone knocked on the door. Zayn answered it and let the person in.

"Hey Paul." The boys said together. Liam introduced Lukas, Melanie and I to Paul, their tour manager. After saying hello to Paul I remained silent, listening in on their plans for tomorrow. A brief meeting tomorrow morning followed by a rehearsal around 4 until dinner. As I listened I decided that I liked Paul. He spoke with authority yet he seemed very laidback at the same time like he was more of a father figure to the boys rather than their boss. After warning us not to stay up too late he bid everyone goodnight and left the room.

We finally decided on the Green Lantern and the 8 of us squeezed on the two beds. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Zayn happily scoot closer to Melanie to make room for Harry. I made a mental note to talk with her later.

We were all restless during the movie with no one really paying attention to it besides maybe Harry. Every time Harry would tell us to be quiet we would all mock him but speaking at an agonizingly slow pace.

"Harry likes to say '_fer oohz'" _Zayn demonstrated in a horrible impression of Harry's voice. Harry had long ago given up telling us to shut up and now he pretended to ignore us completely. I laughed at Zayn.

"I saw a video online a while ago where someone sped up an interview of you guys. Everyone else sounds like chipmunks but Harry's talking at a normal pace." Lukas sniggered. Everyone laughed and the laughter doubled after Harry launched a pillow in our direction.

"Wait… What were you doing looking at videos of Harry?" I said after a moment.

The room went silent for a second before we all burst into laughter again.

We were like that for quite a bit and at 11pm, a staff member knocked on our door telling us to be quiet. Then Harry and Zayn got in trouble for having brought so many people into the hotel and we were forced to leave even after we tried to explain that we were guests at the hotel too. Eventually we all retreated back to our rooms.

Niall and I hugged once more before Melanie, Lukas and I got in the elevator to go one floor down.

"Goodnight." He smiled, pressing a light kiss on my temple.

"Goodnight, Niall." I said.

0o0o0o0o0

An hour later after Melanie and I had taken turns showering and getting ready to sleep we both sat down with our legs cross on her bed.

"So, what took you guys so long to go upstairs?" Melanie teased.

"Nothing." I shrugged but I couldn't keep myself from grinning. "But I was wondering earlier, what's going on with you and Zayn?

Melanie slumped back onto her pillows and shrugged. "I don't think I'm ready for a relationship yet. It's complicated; I don't know how you and Niall do it but it's not the type of relationship I'm looking for. I feel horrible for saying this but I'm just not ready to put that much effort into something like that."

I nodded, processing her words. I knew fully well that it was complicated. I never used to believe in long distance relationships. I always thought they were the worst but now I was in one… if I could even call it a relationship. I haven't called him my boyfriend, nor has he called me is girlfriend and we haven't exactly spoken about _dating_.

"Zayn agrees with me." Melanie added after a moment, breaking my thought. "So we're staying friends- nothing more, and I'm perfectly fine with that. We haven't spent as much time together like you and Niall have. Don't get me wrong- Zayn's great, but I think the attraction was mostly physical. I barely know him yet."

"Well don't give it all up. You never know, it might turn into something more. It's hard to be with someone who's so far away but it's not impossible." I said. "Besides, Zayn's too cool to give up."

"Are you kidding me? Zayn's like, my bff." She joked. "We're besties for life."

"I'm jealous." I said.

"You should be. But on another note, are you and Niall official yet?"

I fell back on the bed with a dramatic sigh. "I don't know. I said I wouldn't get worked up over the whole thing with him and that other girl but I keep thinking of it. It's driving me insane and I'm worried that I'll bring it up and sound jealous and annoying. I'm being silly, aren't I?"

"I'd say there's nothing wrong with asking him about it if it bothers you that much. You guys are going to talk about that stuff eventually." Melanie suggested.

After we talked some more, there was no denying that we were tired and so I crawled into my own bed with the happy thought that Niall was closer to me than he had been in weeks.

0o0o0o0o0

I woke up earlier than I expected the next morning only to find Melanie already gone. After getting dressed and brushing my teeth I headed down to grab some breakfast. I saw Harry, Louis, Zayn and Liam sitting at a table throwing bits of blueberry muffins at each other while a staff member observed sourly. Liam, the first to see me, waved me over and after I grabbed a chocolate muffin and a glass of orange juice I joined them. They all greeted me enthusiastically and I wondered how 4 teenage boys could be so cheerful this early in the morning.

"Morning." I greeted, taking a not-so-polite bite out of my muffin and savouring the warmness.

I tried my best to keep up with the nonsense the boys spoke about and roughly 10 minutes later Melanie came in the dining area followed by two people. Niall and Brianna. _Brianna_. Brianna from the pictures with her tanned skin, ever-lasting legs, long brown hair, sparking eyes, tiny waist and charming smile. I nearly inhaled my muffin.

I stared, watching Melanie talk with Brianna for a moment before they both threw their heads back and laughed together. I felt an odd sense of betrayal. Niall grinned, his eyes locked on Brianna's face and my heart stuttered in my chest when he circled an arm around Brianna with his fingers resting firmly on her hip. Louis looked up at the sound of laughing and immediately waved the small group over, greeting Brianna cheerfully. Melanie took a seat at the table and stole a piece of Zayn's muffin. Niall locked eyes with me, smiled and came right over, steering Brianna with him. I felt a crippling sensation wash through me as she leaned into his embrace.

I stared up, dumbfounded, not knowing what to say or even think. Brianna smiled down at me completely oblivious.

"Melissa, this is Brianna." Niall smiled widely, proudly. "My girlfriend."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_**Author's Note;**_

**Hey guys! Thanks to all those who reviewed on the last chapter! The feedback from you guys is great c: **

**So here's chapter 22. My god, I've never kept up with a story this long before. But I'm glad I didn't give up all those times I wanted to!**

**So what do you guys think about this chapter? Comments?**

**Review are appreciated c:**

**~GiveMeLovee**


	23. Chapter 23

Forever Young Chapter 23

**Previously**

I woke up earlier than I expected the next morning only to find Melanie already gone. After getting dressed and brushing my teeth I headed down to grab some breakfast. I saw Harry, Louis, Zayn and Liam sitting at a table throwing bits of blueberry muffins at each other while a staff member observed sourly. Liam, the first to see me, waved me over and after I grabbed a chocolate muffin and a glass of orange juice I joined them. They all greeted me enthusiastically and I wondered how 4 teenage boys could be so cheerful this early in the morning.

"Morning." I greeted, taking a not-so-polite bite out of my muffin and savouring the warmness.

I tried my best to keep up with the nonsense the boys spoke about and roughly 10 minutes later Melanie came in the dining area followed by two people. Niall and Brianna. _Brianna_. Brianna from the pictures with her tanned skin, ever-lasting legs, long brown hair, sparking eyes, tiny waist and charming smile. I nearly inhaled my muffin.

I stared, watching Melanie talk with Brianna for a moment before they both threw their heads back and laughed together. I felt an odd sense of betrayal. Niall grinned, his eyes locked on Brianna's face and my heart stuttered in my chest when he circled an arm around Brianna with his fingers resting firmly on her hip. Louis looked up at the sound of laughing and immediately waved the small group over, greeting Brianna cheerfully. Melanie took a seat at the table and stole a piece of Zayn's muffin. Niall locked eyes with me, smiled and came right over, steering Brianna with him. I felt a crippling sensation wash through me as she leaned into his embrace.

I stared up, dumbfounded, not knowing what to say or even think. Brianna smiled down at me completely oblivious.

"Melissa, this is Brianna." Niall smiled widely, proudly. "My girlfriend."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

I awoke with a jolt and an unpleasant feeling within me but there was no sigh of relief after realizing it was just a dream. There was no sigh of relief because there was no relief. It did nothing for me, only fuel my curiosity. But really, this is getting ridiculously out of hand. Nightmares? Who was Brianna? I needed to know.

With a glance at the bed to my right I noticed that Melanie must have already gone downstairs. With a wide yawn I slid to the edge of the bed and let my feet dangle off the side as I pulled my hair into a bun. I pulled my phone off the wall charger and unlocked it. Melanie, as I had assumed, had left me a text saying she was downstairs getting food. Just as I was about to put my phone down I received a text from Niall. I smiled but I still haven't been able to shake the uneasy feeling within me.

***Morning beautiful. U up yet?***

***I just woke up a few minutes ago* **I replied.

***Well come downstairs. There's someone I want u to meet :)***

I froze. There was someone he wanted to meet?

"This is not happening." I muttered, throwing my phone on the bed without replying. "I'm just paranoid. There's no way it's her. Just a dream…"

I stood up and a moment later I found myself pacing back and forth contemplating how high the chances were that I could predict the future in my dreams. Hopefully not very high. That would be alarming… I took a deep breath but it did nothing to settle my thoughts.

Despite it being early-ish my brain was functioning at full speed. As I got dressed one side of my brain told me that I should ask Niall who Brianna was and why was he spending time with her. The other side of my brain told me that if I acted upon my curiosity that I would come out as the annoying, jealous-type girlfriend. The worst part was that I wasn't even his girlfriend.

I picked up my phone and typed out a reply.

***I'll be down in a few***

I tucked my key card in the back pocket of my dark jeans and slipped my feet into a pair of shoes before quietly leaving the room. Just like in my dream, I descended by elevator to the ground floor before turning into the dining area. And just like in my dream I found Louis, Harry, Zayn and Liam sitting at a table. Melanie and Niall were there too. But what had me blinking in shock was the girl sitting at the table, her back to me, between Niall and Louis with her brown hair cascading down her back.

I brought my hands up to my face and rubbed my eyes. _Tell me this is a joke, _I thought. I was aware that a table of guests nearby were observing me and so I inched closer to the table. Zayn waved at me and Melanie and Niall turned around. The other girl didn't. She seemed to be very interested in her and Louis' discussion.

"You took your time." Melanie teased. I managed a smile.

I approached the table and Niall stood, pulling me into a gentle hug when I reached him. I snuck another peek at the girl, hoping to get a glance of her face. Was it her? Could it possibly be her?

"Sleep well?" He asked, pulling my attention back to him.

"It was alright." I answered.

"Are you hungry?" He asked, looking over at the other end of the room where a long table stood bearing a wide variety of breakfast foods.

"Sure." I said, stealing one more peek. Niall seemed to notice my interest in the girl and he suddenly seemed to remember something.

"Oh yeah, I wanted you to meet someone. Melissa, this is Louis' girlfriend, Eleanor."

Upon hearing her name, Eleanor broke away from her conversation with Louis and turned around. She seemed momentarily surprised to see me there but her face broke into a warm smile only milliseconds later.

"Hi there, you must be Melissa!" She said, reaching her hand out. This time relief did wash through me and for the first time today I was able to let out a real smile.

"Hey, it's nice to meet you." I replied, shaking her hand politely.

She wasn't Brianna. She was Eleanor. And to top things off Niall wrapped his arm around my waist and pressed a light kiss on my cheek.

"You girls can talk later. I've got to get some food in this girl." Niall told Eleanor before he steered me away from the table. I let out a sheepish look and Eleanor let out a light laugh. She turned back to Louis.

"They're really cute together." I heard her say before Niall pulled me out of range.

"What do you feel like eating?" Niall asked. I shrugged. I was still feeling fairly happy about discovering that my dream was only a dream and that I could not predict the future. How silly of me.

"Anything is fine." I answered. He picked up a plate and scooped up a few fruits onto the plate.

"You like these, right?" He asked, pointing to the remaining waffles under the heat lamp.

"Sure. What time is your meeting at?" I asked, watching him begin to pile an excessive amount of food onto my plate.

"Just under half an hour." He said, stabbing at 3 pancakes before adding them to my plate.

"Niall, I'm not that hungry." I said after watching him reach for more food to put on the plate. Niall seemed to have realized that there was literally no room left on the plate and he turned to me and laughed.

"Oh."

God, he was so adorable. "Come on, you'll just have to help me." I smiled, grabbing 2 forks and a few napkins. We joined the others at the table, Niall sitting to my right and Harry to my left. Niall wasted no time setting the plate between us and he had half a pancake in his mouth a moment later. I smiled fondly at him.

I was a little quieter while eating and I mostly observed everyone else. There was a cheerful mood around us and it felt great. Niall reached for my hand under the table once we had finished and he played with my fingers.

"Are you going to go shopping with everyone later on tonight?" I asked him.

"Nope." He said and a little grin appeared on his face.

"Why not?" I frowned.

"I've got other plans." He said.

"Oh, okay. What are you doing?" I asked.

"Can't tell you." He answered, grinning widely at me.

"Aw, don't be like that." I pouted.

But Niall refused to tell me. He sat there with his lips sealed beneath his smirk. I eventually gave in just as Paul came to collect the boys to leave.

"I'll tell you later after the meeting." He promised.

"Okay, have fun." I said.

"I'll be back by lunch." He said and he pressed one last kiss on my cheek before following the boys to the lobby. If Niall had kissed my cheek like that 3 weeks ago in front of everybody I would likely have died of shock and embarrassment but now it couldn't be any more natural. Maybe it also had to do with the fact that Louis and Harry no longer teased me to death after each little physical contact between Niall and I.

I watched them leave the hotel after pulling on their coats and it took me a few moments to realize that Melanie was trying to grab my attention.

"Oh, sorry, what was that?" I said, standing from the table.

"Eleanor and I were going to go check out the mall again. Do you want to come?" Melanie said.

"Sure, I'd love to. What about Lukas, is he still sleeping?" I asked, following Melanie and Eleanor towards the elevator.

"Yeah, he said not to bother him until noon so we could go fetch him after a few hours of shopping." Melanie told me, showing me the text he sent an hour ago.

While waiting for the elevator I found out that Eleanor arrived by airplane this morning and was staying with Louis while she visited. Apparently Danielle was too busy with work to visit Liam. Eleanor was also leaving in 2 days like Melanie, Lukas and I. Eleanor eventually turned to me.

"You guys are really adorable together, you and Niall. How long have you been dating for?" Eleanor said as we entered the elevator.

I felt my face heat and I made an awkward face. "We're not."

"Oh, sorry! I just thought- because Louis said you were." Eleanor quickly said.

"Don't worry about it, it's fine." I assured her as we reached our floor.

Melanie laughed. "Don't feel bad Eleanor, they are dating. It's just not official yet."

"It's complicated." I interjected, sliding my key card in the slot.

"Well either way I've never seen him so affectionate towards someone." Eleanor told me. "You make Niall really happy. It doesn't take someone who's known Niall for a long time to see it either. He used to be shy with that sort of stuff but you've really pulled him out that."

What she said had managed to lift my mood even further. Did I really manage to do that? Had I affected Niall as much as he had affected me? At that moment I realized how much I've changed in the past month. Before Niall I would have never thought about actually taking a relationship seriously. I would have never opened up to someone like I've begun doing with Niall. Of course we still had so much to discover about each other and I had so many things to share with him but what changed is the fact that now I think that I trusted Niall enough to actually tell him my secrets.

For those close to me, they knew how difficult it was for me to be able to trust someone and open up to them. It's a big step for me; being able to admit my feelings to him and open up to him in ways that I've avoided doing for years with anyone else. It only means that I'm giving him more reasons to hurt me but I'm confident that he never will.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Eleanor turned out to be extremely funny and she also held a great sense of fashion. It was well past noon before we even thought of leaving the mall. I looked down at the many shopping bags in my hand and I felt slightly guilty after having spent money I didn't have for shopping. But it was worth it. Melanie had spent quite a bit too and at 2pm the three of us returned to the hotel with our arms loaded with different shopping bags. We parted ways in the elevator, Melanie and I getting out while Eleanor still had 2 floors to go. The boys should be back by now too.

"I like her." I grinned as we entered the room. I shook all the bags off my arm and they landed into a messy heap on the floor, some of the clothing spilling out of the bags.

"Me too. You know, her and Louis are great for each other. She keeps him in line." Melanie added, shrugging her jacket off. "I'm going to go check on Lukas. I'll be back in 10 minutes, okay?"

Melanie left the room and I decided to go through the things I bought today. I was re-folding the clothing in the third bag when there was a knock on the door. I didn't bother checking who it was because I had assumed it was Melanie. Wrong. The moment I opened the handle and pulled the door open Niall launched himself at me, wrapping his arms around my upper waist in a hug.

"Niall!" I said in surprise, hugging him back. "No need to be so violent."

"I'm not violent." He retorted with a smirk. Then, his eyes seemed to darken and he surprised me even further by diving forward and biting my neck.

"Ouch!" I cried out and I spun out of his arms. I had just seen a totally new side of Niall and if I had to be honest… I liked it. I stopped a few feet away from him in the center of the room and his smirk widened. He reached behind him and closed the door. Then, with his eyes locked on me he kicked his shoes off and took a step forward with a glint in his eyes.

"Niall, stop." I said, backing away, but I couldn't stop myself from grinning.

Niall continued to advance on me as though I was his prey. I bit back a giggle as excitement took over. "You're not scary at all." I taunted. That was all it took. He lunged forward and even though I let out a yelp and jumped out of the way he still managed to get his arms around me and pin me to the wall, our noses almost touching. I held my breath.

"Is that what you think?" He breathed. His eyes bore into mine and a shiver ran through me when I realized just how close we were. Not trusting myself to speak, I only nodded. He let out a chuckle.

With his hand placed firmly on my back he pulled me forward so that my entire body was pressed against him. I could feel every part of him against me. Then he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. I felt myself melt in his arms as my own snaked around his shoulders and neck. What began as a few kisses escalated into a full-blown make out session. There was nothing innocent about the way I bit at his bottom lip or the way his hands slid down my back and cupped my bottom.

A loud knock startled us and we jumped apart both breathing heavily.

"W-who is it?" I called, thinking it not appropriate to answer the door in my current state.

"Louis." A muffled voice replied.

I turned to Niall and we both burst into laughter. Whether it was intentional or not Louis seemed to almost always interrupt us. "It's like he knows or something." I said in disbelief. Niall was still laughing when I opened the door.

"Hey. El told me to bring this to you. She said it got mixed up in her bags." Louis said, holding out a plain bag to me.

"Okay, thanks." I smiled.

"What's so funny?" Louis asked, looking past me at Niall who was still laughing.

"Nothing." I grinned as Niall came up to me.

Louis left about a minute later and I tossed the bag on the bed.

"What's in the bag?" Niall asked, plopping down on my bed.

"Oh, I must have bought something and it accidentally ended up in Eleanor's bag." I said. Niall had already reached for the bag and pulled the first article out before I realized what it was. I tried to snatch it away from him but he must have seen it coming because he held the bag out of my reach.

"What's this?" Niall asked, pulling a scanty pair of underwear out of the bag. His face cracked into a grin. He clearly found this amusing. I didn't.

"Nothing- Niall, don't go through that!" I pleaded, my face incredibly hot. At the mall Melanie and Eleanor had managed to convince me to buy some nice underwear and bras and since they were on sale I didn't see why not. Now I suddenly regretted it. Niall kept the bag out of my reach as he continued to pull underwear out of the bag. After 4 I managed to grab the bag away from him and I picked up the ones he dropped.

"Aw, don't be like that babe, there's nothing wrong with buying nice underwear. Harry's got a thong." Niall said with a laugh. "But if you want my opinion I like these one's the best." He teased, holding up a pair of black lace underwear.

I snatched it away and shoved it back in the bed. "I'm glad you enjoyed that."

"Are you going to model them for me now?" He asked.

"Now don't get ahead of yourself, Horan. You haven't earned that yet."

"Oh, I see how it is."

Our silly banter continued back and forth for the next few minutes until he reminded me of his mysterious plans tonight.

"I wasn't planning on going with them because I had other plans for tonight." He told me. I nodded for him to continue.

"Well… see, I was wondering if you wanted to come out for dinner with me tonight... Like a date." Niall said slowly as though he had rehearsed that small line over and over again. I blinked. I hadn't exactly expected this but I was thrilled nonetheless.

"I'd love to." I smiled. "Is that why you told me to bring a dress?"

"Maybe." He grinned, seeming relieved at my answer.

I sat next to him on the bed and he wrapped his arm around me. I leaned into his frame and smiled to myself. Niall was taking me on a date, probably my first real date. Could New York get any better?

_**Author's Note;**_

_**Hey guys. I'm sorry for taking ages on this chapter. I'm slowly losing inspiration with it. And I literally finished writing it barely minutes before I posted it so I haven't gone over it very well. I apologize for any mistakes. **_

_**But honestly your reviews on the last chapter were absolutely phenomenal! I love some of the thoughts you guys had when Niall presented Brianna to Melissa as his girlfriend. But thankfully it was only a dream, right? ;) dun dun duunnnnn**_

_**Reviews are appreciated!**_

_**~GiveMeLovee**_


	24. Author's Note

Author's Note:

Hey guys, I know it's been a while since I've updated and I have so many reviews and messages wondering when I'm putting up the next chapter. Truth is I'm afraid I've given up the story. I've got far too much going on at the moment and I've gotten warnings about this story seeing as the boys aren't fiction which probably goes against the rules. I've also had so much trouble writing the chapters. I can't for the life of me come up with the next chapter. I've spent countless hours on Chapter 24 and it's just not working for me. And so for now the story is officially on hold. No, I'm not deleting it. I might pick it up again when things settle down and I get back to writing but for now I'm done.

I'm really sorry if I've disappointed many of you.

GiveMeLovee


	25. Author's Note 2

_**Author's Note;**_

_Hey guys, I know I've disappeared for a while and I'm sorry for doing so but I'm pleased to let you all know that I've decided to continue to write Forever Young. Thank you to all those who favourited and followed my story. I'll try my best to get this story up and running again soon. Expect the next chapter by the end of the upcoming week! _

_I might end up going back to change chapters. If I do I'll leave an author's note at the top of the new chapter to let you all know which chapters have been edited/changed and/or contain new information. _

_Thanks for being patient guys!_

_**GiveMeLovee**_


	26. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: If you recognize something then it's not mine. **

Forever Young Chapter 24

The rest of the afternoon had passed sluggishly. We snacked, drank coffee, chatted, and the most interesting thing was probably watching Harry get his hair trimmed by their hair stylist Lou. Upon walking in Lou's room with Niall and seeing Harry with his hair wet and straight I burst into the most unattractive laughter.

"Harry, you'd make a very lovely girl." I teased, flicking a strand of his hair.

Lou came back in the room juggling several hair cutting tools and smiled at me. Niall had briefly told me that Lou was one of the kindest people I'd meet around here. "You must be the girl who Niall's always talking about. Melissa, right?"

I shook her hand gently and nodded. "Yes, that's me. It's nice to meet you."

"I've threatened Niall to take his phone away so many times but that boy just doesn't listen." She said, turning her disapproving gaze to Niall.

"Niall, you've given me a bad reputation!" I teased, nudging his shoulder lightly. Niall waved his hand dismissively and planted a kiss on my head before he made his way over to Harry.

I listen to them discuss their next flight to L.A where they would be filming the iCarly episode.

"Are you sure you boys should be talking about that here?" Lou asked, snipping away at Harry's hair.

"Oh, I already told her a few weeks ago." Niall told Lou.

I sat quietly and watched Lou cut Harry's hair, occasionally asking questions about styling hair. I couldn't seem to get the date off my mind. Who would have thought that I'd end up going on a date with Niall Horan?

Lou finished cutting Harry's hair and after a few products, a curling iron and a blow dryer Harry's head was once again covered in his trademark curls. After brushing all the hair from his lap Harry stood from the chair, thanked Lou and immediately shook his head and flipped his hair to the side. Clearly this was purposely to bug Lou which seemed to have worked.

"I hate it when he does that!" She told me, rolling her eyes at Harry who smiled cheekily. "So are you looking at becoming a hair stylist? You ask very good questions."

"Well, not exactly." I answered. "It's more for my own hair. Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Of course, dear. What can I help you with?" Lou smiled.

"Well I was going to try and style my hair in some sort of low bun with curls and all but I'm pretty awful at doing my own hair. I was

wondering if you might be able to help me out?"

"Oh, is this for your date with Niall? Finally got around to asking you, did he?"

"Yeah, I- wait, what?" I asked. Lou knew about our date? Did everyone know?

"The boys talk to me about everything." Lou told me, sweeping up the hair on the ground. "So you want your hair in a bun? I could help you with that but personally I think you'd look better with your hair down. How long is your hair?"

"A little more than halfway down my back, I think." I said, reaching up to let my hair down from it's bun.

"Oh, you have gorgeous hair. Yes, I think you'd be better off curling it. Nice, big, loose curls. I could certainly do that."

"If it's not too much trouble." I replied quickly.

"Not at all!" Lou said. She reached for her phone to check the time. In the background was a baby girl smiling widely. "It's 5:30 now so why don't I come by in about 45 minutes?"

"That sounds good. Is that your daughter?" I asked, referring to the picture on her phone.

"Yes, that's Lux. She stayed home with her dad this weekend. I'm sure you'll meet her eventually." She smiled.

Lou and I chatted for a little while while Harry, Niall and Liam threw things around the room. When the time came I said goodbye to everyone and made my way out of the room. I was just about to close the door behind me when Niall slipped out with me.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked, hugging me while pinning my arms firmly to my sides.

"I'm going to shower." I said, looking at Niall's grinning face.

He continued to hold me with the silly grin still plastered to his face. It was only when I raised an eyebrow that he shrugged, dropped his arms, took my hand in his and led me down the hall humming something unrecognizable. As we neared the elevator I looked over at him. Jesus, he was flawless.

Niall pushed the down button once we reached the elevator and as we waited for it to reach the 23rd floor he turned to me.

"I don't normally like elevators," He told me as the doors opened revealing an empty elevator. "but sometimes they're pretty fun."

"What kind of shenanigans do you and the boys get up to in here?" I asked, stepping in.

"Nah, not the boys."

I pushed my floor and turned back to Niall only to see his eyes darken. The next thing I knew I was pressed to the wall with Niall's lips against my own. I let out a sound of surprise and I felt Niall's lips pull into a smirk. He nipped at my bottom lip and my hands found his waist as his left hand gripped my upper arm. His right hand came up and brushed the hair away from my neck, exposing it. Hot lips traced my own before leaving a trail across my jaw. I supressed a sigh when his lips reached my neck leaving light kisses.

Impatient to kiss him again I bent my knees and captured his lips. My hands came up to stroke his neck and the kiss deepened. His tongue caressed mine and he pressed his hips into mine.

The elevator jolted to a stop and Niall moved away from me so quickly that I was surprised he could move so fast. An older woman stepped in eyeing us both with narrow eyes before she pressed the button for the ground floor. I nearly split my lip bitting it while trying holding in my laughter. When the elevator came to a stop at my floor Niall and I calmly made our way out but the moment the doors closed again we burst into simultaneous giggles.

"You're coming in?" I asked between giggles. I slid my card key into the lock. It clicked open.

"Why not?" He said, following me into the room.

The moment the door was closed he grabbed my hips and spun me so that I was pressed against the back of the door with his swollen lips hovering over mine. My breath hitched.

"I have to shower." I managed. His smirk widened.

"I'll help you." He replied cheekily, his lips brushing mine lightly.

"You wish." I whispered.

Niall closed his eyes and let out a soft groan. "Yeah, I do."

When his eyes opened again they were darkened with lust. He cocked his head to the side.

"Kiss me."

With a sly grin I leaned in and pressed my lips on his. As he went to deepen the kiss I pulled back. "You need to leave so I can shower." I breathed, trying to sound as convincing as I could.

He blinked a few times. "Melissa." he groaned in frustration. Then, seeming to not care how long I had to shower he kissed me again and this time I didn't pull away. I didn't want to. Feeling his tongue against mine was a whole new discovery and I liked it.

It was only after a solid 5 minutes that I sighed against Niall's lips and pulled away. He rested his forehead against mine as we tried to even our breathing.

"Niall." I breathed.

"I know, I'll let you go shower now." He answered softly. He unwrapped his arms from me and stepped back. I immediately disliked the gap betweem us. "I'll see you later." He said with a grin. Then he was gone.

I stood there for a moment fanning my face. That had been quite... pleasant and now I wanted more. I'd never get enough of him. He always left me wanting more.

I finally snapped out of my thoughts and made my way to the bathroom to shower. When my eyes hit the clock I decided that it would be a

good time to hurry.

0o0o0o0

Melanie came through the door 15 minutes later with Lou close behind carrying an armfull of stuff. I took the towel out of my hair and sat down.

"Alright, let's get started on this!" Lou said.

Lou worked quickly and gently. She dried my hair, smoothed it over with a fruity smelling spray and then with a thick curling iron she shaped curl after curl. Half an hour, some hairspray and 4 bobby pins later my hair was all done.

"You're going to look beautiful tonight, darling." She told me. I thanked her again and she assured me it was her pleasure. She left soon after and wished me good luck.

"What time did Niall say he'd come around at?" Melanie asked.

"Quarter after seven." I answered, admiring Lou's impressive work in the mirror.

"Hurry it up, child! You have about 20 minutes to do your makeup and put your dress on." She reminded me.

I wanted to go easy on the makeup tonight. My dress was detailed enough that I didn't want to have too much going on. My makeup was done with Melanie's help with around 7 minutes to spare. Another few minutes later I had my dress on. The dress was an above the knee midnight blue strapless dress with an empire waist embedded with silver patterns. It had cost quite a bit even with the reduced price but it was totally worth it. My light makeup which consisted of mascara, eyeliner and a beige glimmering eyeshadow balanced out nicely with the dress. All I was missing were my nude heals which I couldn't seem to find.

"Melissa, holy shit, you look hot." Melanie told me.

"Thanks." I smiled. "But have you seen my heels?"

"Not since Louis wore them." Melanie said.

Oh no...

Melanie seemed to read my expression. "He didn't give them back, did he?"

I shook my head and Melanie laughed. I put my coat on, shoved my wallet and phone in the pockets and Melanie followed me out the door. My bare feet made no sound on the carpet.

"Do you know which room is Louis'?" She asked, falling into step next to me. We entered the elevator.

"I think so." I replied. I checked the time. I was supposed to be meeting Niall in the lobby now. "I just hope he's in his room."

We made it up to the next floor up and when I reached the door I silently prayed it was his and knocked. Thankfully it was and he opened the door a moment later.

"Hey, you look very lovely." He said and Eleanor appeared at his side. "You look absolutely stunning!" She told me.

"Thank you." I smiled. "Louis, do you still have my heels?"

"Oh yeah, sorry. Here they are." He said, reaching behind his door for my heels. I placed them at my feet and stepped into them. They

weren't high and were very comfortable. I couldn't wear heels too high with Niall only an inch taller than me.

"Thanks Louis. Sorry to run off but I'm running late." I said, nervously checking the time.

"No problem. Have fun tonight." Louis said with an encouraging smile. It was odd to see this more mature side of Louis.

With a smile Melanie and I walked back to the elevator. She left the elevator on our floor and wished me luck as I continued down to the lobby. I bit my lip, suddenly feeling nervous. I was going on a date with Niall who is handsome and carefree and wonderful and much, much more. As the doors opened it occured to me that I had absolutely no reason to be nervous.

Niall was the first person I saw when I stepped out of the elevator. He looked as perfect as ever wearing black pants, a stylish charcoal jacket and his hair softly swept to the side. As I approached him his eyes finally found mine and I watched his eyes travel down my legs and back up to my face. His face lifted into a smile.

"You look beautiful." He told me.

I lowered my face shyly and thanked him. "You don't look too bad yourself." I said as he took my hand.

"Let's go." He said, leading me towards the stairs that led to the garage.

At that moment I smiled to myself. I was happy, and nothing was going to change that tonight.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

**_Author's Note;_**

**_Hey guys, sorry for having the chapter out so late. As I sat down to start this chapter I realized that my entire plan for this story had been written on paper... which I lost. So I'm pretty much winging it from here on. _**

**_Leave a review and let me know what you think. _**

**_GiveMeLovee_**


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